The G20 summit in Brisbane in November will affect the ability of many businesses to operate in the city, according to Aon.

A special resilience survey on companies’ preparedness reveals a lack of follow-through and attention to detail.

More than half of the 50 businesses questioned for the Aon survey say they will be “adversely impacted” if access to the city centre is denied for one day or less.

Although extreme weather is more likely to concern Brisbane companies, the summit frequently attracts protests and could affect business activity, Aon’s G20 Summit Business Resilience Report says.

It says most businesses have a heightened awareness of the need for disaster planning, given Brisbane’s recent experiences with floods.

About 72% of respondents have a formal crisis management plan, but one-third admit they have not tested it or only tested it on an ad-hoc basis. A quarter of companies have no plan.

The survey also shows 79% have an IT disaster recovery plan and 68% have a business continuity plan.

Among those organisations with IT disaster plans, 69% test them at least once a year – and with good reason. 79% have had to activate their plan at least once in the past five years.

Of those with business continuity plans, 65% test them at least once a year. The most common test scenarios include loss of IT systems (83%), loss of site or access to site (83%), loss of communications (67%) and loss of utilities (50%).

The survey reveals confusion about companies’ insurance. Half of the respondents with business interruption cover do not understand how it is triggered, and only one-fifth have quantified the financial impact of a significant disruption.

Aon Global Risk Consulting director Rob Cusack says it is a familiar tale.

“Despite purchasing business interruption insurance, insureds all too often find out the hard way that their coverage does not adequately respond in the event of a loss,” he said.

Aon Global Risk Consulting COO Luke Stratford says 69% of organisations remain unsure of whether their business interruption insurance will cover disruption caused by the G20 summit.

“In the absence of a thorough understanding of key business interruption risk exposures and policy triggers, it is likely that… an expectation gap will open up between how the insured believes the policy will respond and how the insurer believes the policy will respond,” he said.

The G20 summit will be held at Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre from November 15-16.