As data breach after data breach, ransomware attack after ransomware attack, and other cyber threats make headlines, more business owners realize they need cyber insurance.
But buying cyber insurance online isn’t necessarily a simple transaction, despite the demonstrably urgent need and the market’s dramatic growth. Businesses must clear several hurdles when getting accurate, affordable cyber insurance quotes.
At ProWriters, we’ve made it easy for our brokers to gather cyber quotes for their business clients. Keep reading to discover what obstacles businesses run up against when trying to buy cyber insurance online and how we can equip you to help them.
What Makes Buying Cyber Liability Coverage Online Difficult?
By late 2020, the number of corporate risk managers who’d bought some form of cyber insurance coverage had more than doubled, from 34% in 2011 to 78%.
But online cyber insurance shopping isn’t always easy, and purchasing cyber insurance at all is rarely straightforward.
In 2017, the Deloitte Center for Financial Services identified several obstacles to the cyber coverage market’s growth. They considered the issue from both insurance companies’ and consumers’ perspectives.
Their insights still merit attention. The pandemic pushed carriers forward to meet demand, but it’s unclear how much it cleared the way for consumers. Among the potential stumbling blocks to a smooth cyber insurance purchase are factors like:
- Cyber risk is constantly changing.
More businesses now know a clicked link in a phishing email can lead to a data breach or ransomware attack. But as technology keeps advancing, so do cybercriminals’ opportunities to wreak havoc.
Increasing reliance on big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, the internet of things (IOT), and 5G infrastructure can increase productivity and profit. But, it also expands their exposure to criminal cyber activity.
- Cyber risk and its costs resist easy quantification.
Other insurance coverage protects against widely understood, easily quantifiable risks. Business owners generally understand how much coverage they need for risks like natural disasters, thefts, and errors and omissions (E&O). But while more businesses know they need cyber coverage, “buyers large and small . . . can have a hard time quantifying exactly how big a risk they face,” Deloitte found. Businesses may not have considered all the costs associated with a cyber incident. Getting websites and servers up and running again is only one expense. What about lost revenue and damage to the corporate reputation? Or legal fees incurred in lawsuits brought by customers whose personal information was compromised?
- Cyber risk exposure spans a broad range of coverages.
Cyber risk threatens more than a business’s computer systems. Instead, it can affect multiple aspects of operations. Deloitte found it could reasonably be included in “general liability, property, professional liability, business interruption, and crime policies, among other standard coverages.” But it generally isn’t.
Confusion over what existing business insurance covers and doesn’t is one factor complicating cyber insurance purchases. If business owners think, however mistakenly, general liability policies will cover cyber attack recovery costs, they may be less likely to seek out a dedicated, adequate cyber insurance policy.
- Cyber policies lack standardization.
Deloitte observed in 2017 “the description of coverage terms, conditions, and exclusions are anything but standardized in cyber policies.” Unfortunately for consumers, this situation hasn’t changed much in the years since. As of mid-2021, the industry was still working with federal and state governments to codify standard definitions of language like “cyberterrorism.” And legislative cybersecurity standards vary from state to state. Granted, some of this lack of standardization stems from carriers’ legitimate need to customize insurance coverage for customers’ situations. But the absence of clear and consistent terminology and conditions doesn’t make buying policies any easier.
Keeping such factors in mind, it’s easy to understand why buying cyber Insurance online can be complicated. Without expert advice and guidance from cyber insurance specialists, companies could buy policies that fail to protect them when an incident occurs.
Get Cyber Insurance Quotes Your Business Clients Can Count On
Don’t let your corporate clients buy cyber insurance online the way they purchase office supplies. Be the expert broker they need. Bring them a range of suitable, affordable options when using ProWriters’ Cyber IQ Comparative Rate Platform.
Registered ProWriters brokers can use the CyberIQ platform to:
- Generate multiple cyber insurance quotes from top carriers in seconds, eliminating lengthy research and repeated form submissions.
- Create side-by-side coverage comparisons for your clients, letting them see at a glance which policies best suit their cyber risk exposure and their budget.
- Compete successfully with direct markets, supported by our experienced experts, as you earn commissions starting at 15%. (Select agents can even brand the platform as their own.)
Register as a ProWriters broker today and guide clients towards a cyber policy that gives them ample coverage and peace of mind.
