Cyber insurance

How much cyber insurance do I need?

That depends, to some extent, on how much IT infrastructure you have. More hardware means more to repair or replace. More software means more data to restore.

You need to take into account the way you do business. Can you still trade without a website or access to other systems? Can you survive without email? Do you take payments online? Do you hold particularly sensitive customer data or images? What will be the consequences for both you and your customers if you’re hacked or held to ransom?

And don’t forget the legal costs. Informing regulators and customers you’ve been hacked costs as much as a solicitor charges you – and we all know how cheap they are.

Whatever conclusion you come to, you can guarantee a cyber-attack will cost you money. And because exactly how much money is very difficult to quantify (because every attack is different), you’re well advised to go for as much as you can possibly afford.

There’s good news if 80% of your staff successfully complete their free online Cyber Academy training. Your excess comes down by £2,500 and if it’s no more than that to start with, it disappears completely.

How much does cyber insurance cost?

The cost of your cyber insurance will depend on a few different things:

• The nature of your business. For example, a marketing agency stores and sends a lot of customer data. So their risk would be a lot higher than a smaller, local business which has a lower dependency on data.
• The size of your business. Larger businesses will be riskier to insure, so will expect to pay more for their insurance.
• How much data you store. The more you store, the bigger a target you are for cybercriminals. So the more expensive your insurance will be.
• Whether you want to protect yourself against financial cybercrime and social engineering. And if you’re concerned that a cyber-attack could cause you to stop trading.

These are just an example of the many things that will affect the cost of cyber insurance.

Even businesses that are on the less risky side would benefit from cyber insurance. It protects you from the disastrous consequences that pop up after a cyber-attack.

Not convinced? Find out the average cost of a data breach for a small business.

Does cyber insurance cover GDPR?

If you’re hit by a GDPR-related data breach, cyber insurance can help you shoulder a lot of the burden that you’re going to experience.

First things first, cyber insurance wouldn’t pay any GDPR fines you might receive.

It also wouldn’t cover you if a client sued you for losing or sharing their data in breach of UK GDPR regulations. This can sometimes be covered by professional indemnity insurance. But it’s always worth checking your policy wording to make sure.

The good news is that cyber insurance can cover a lot of the other things you’ll face, like:

• Hiring IT experts to help contain the breach, fix your systems, and try to retrieve any stolen data
• Paying for PR assistance to help you protect your reputation
• Sets up a call centre to contact people affected by the breach
• Covers any compensation and legal fees that you might owe
• Reports the breach to the ICO, as required by law, and gives you legal advice during the whole process

Read more about GDPR and cyber insurance.

What is Cyber Essentials accreditation?

Cyber Essentials is a government-backed scheme. It’s designed to help businesses defend themselves against cyber-attacks.

It’s also great for your reputation, as it shows other businesses and the public that you’re committed to cyber security.

There are two levels of accreditation. Some insurers provide a discount on your cyber insurance whether you meet the standard or Plus accreditation.

It’s a great way for you to protect your business against cybercrime. And it can help you set up an effective foundation for the future.

Is cyber insurance a legal requirement?

At the moment, cyber insurance isn’t a legal requirement in the UK.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have it, just that the UK government hasn’t decided to make it mandatory yet.

The Cyber Essentials scheme is the government’s current way of encouraging small businesses to adopt cyber insurance. They recognise that it’s an important tool in preventing cyber-attacks from leading to businesses closing their doors.

What isn’t covered by cyber insurance?

Some cyber insurance policies don’t cover financial cybercrime. In these cases, you’ll need to buy an add-on.

Financial cybercrime includes social engineering, like phishing, vishing, and identity theft. It’s one of the most common forms of cybercrime, so it’s well worth being covered against.

The same can be true for loss of income due to a cyber-attack, which isn’t covered by some cyber insurance policies.

Here are a few other common things you won’t be covered for:

• Cyber-attacks or breaches that happened before your policy started
• Terrorist acts or state-sponsored attacks
• Acts caused by you or your employees on purpose
• Having poor security controls – cyber insurance requires you to maintain a basic level of cybersecurity eg multi-factor authentication
• Running old or outdated software with no security updates
• Security vulnerabilities you were aware of when you took out your insurance.

If you’re looking for a full list of things cyber insurance won’t cover, give us a call. We’re happy to chat through it in more detail.

Why should I buy cyber insurance from you?

Glad you asked.

The simple answer is: we know what we’re doing. Professional insurance is all we do so we know what you need, even if you don’t.

We also know that buying insurance can be, well, a bit of a pain. So we make sure getting yours is quick and hassle-free.

We do all that while treating you like a human being, too. You won’t find a call centre here. Or a phone menu. And we’ve banned nonsense insurance jargon.

Anything else? Well, there’s the great stuff you get, such as an ‘I’m insured!’ badge for your website – perfect for the professional professional.

Also, we’ll give you money each time you successfully refer someone to us.

If you’re after a second opinion, have a look at our customers’ feedback. They’re the ones you should really listen to.