The outlook for demand for business credit remains worse than dour, if two periodic National Business Expectations surveys, from Dun & Bradstreet and credit insurance broker NCI, are any guide.D&B said that less than four per cent of businesses intend to access new credit to grow their business.In April, this percentage was seven per cent.In a further indicator of subdued credit conditions, trade credit insurance broker NCI, in a quarterly report derived from its own data, said that collection activity on (mostly business-to-business) credit increased by 27 per cent over the March 2013 quarter.On the other hand, credit insurance claims dropped nine per cent over the quarter.Kirk Cheesman, managing director of NCI, said that "despite a drop in the number of claims in the quarter, both the number of collections and serious overdues reported were noticeably higher, suggesting a strong likelihood of an increase in claims in the second quarter."NCI said that 43 per cent of credit managers surveyed experienced five or more debtor insolvencies in the past quarter, while 57 per cent have found that payment delays outside credit terms increased over the past quarter.