Small businesses pay 33% of rising tort costs out-of-pocket

A new study from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce shows that small businesses shoulder a sizable burden of the nation's tort liability costs, having paid $105.4 billion in 2008 - a third of it out of their own pockets. According to the report, small businesses bore 81 percent of business tort liability costs but took in only 22 percent of revenue. The study, Tort Liability Costs for Small Businesses, also found that small businesses ($10 million or less in annual revenue) paid, collectively, $35.6 billion of these costs out-of-pocket rather than through insurance.