Key takeaways
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Cyber insurance typically costs between £350 and £5,000 per year for small and medium-sized businesses in the UK
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Your no-obligation and tailored cyber insurance quote can be offered within 48 hours, offering informed decision making
We work with wide range of cyber insurers to meet your needs:
Cyber insurance is a type of business insurance designed to protect against cyber-attacks, data breaches and cyber criminals. Cover will typically provide for third-party cyber liability and first-party costs and expenses associated with recovering from cyber incidents, such as a cyber security breach, ransomware attack, hack, phishing attack, and other cyber threats.
Typical costs of cyber insurance
For example, a marketing company firm with modest revenues and limited sensitive data might pay around £800 per year, while a financial services company handling volumes of personal data may face annual costs closer to £4,000. While these figures provide a benchmark, it is important to remember that no two businesses are the same.
Example cyber insurance premiums
Retailer
Software Company
Solicitor
Factors which impact your cyber insurance premiums
Cyber security
Common controls required by insurers include:
Business activities
For example, the following industries carry an increased exposure to claims: accountants, casinos, data aggregators, education sector, financial services, hospitals, hotels, medical industry, payroll services, professional services, solicitors, telecommunications, trading platforms, online gaming, and payment card processors.
Turnover and employees
There will also be certain thresholds, where insurers will provide discounted rates to grow their portfolio. For example, companies with a turnover less than £1 million is the most competitive. Whereas, there is significantly less insurer competition when your turnover exceeds £100 million.
Personal data
Additionally, the type of data you hold or process will impact your premium. Sensitive data such as: banking, card details, and medical information is perceived as the highest risk. The larger and more sensitive the data you process or hold the greater risk to insurers and will attract higher premium charges.
Territorial scope
The higher exposure to a legal system which makes more frequent and higher awards means insurers will need to charge higher premiums when calculating the cost of your policy.
Claims history
Unfortunately, you will incur higher premium costs if you have been the subject of cyber insurance claims in the past five years. Insurers will want to understand exactly what occurred, how much the cyber incident cost, and what remedial actions were taken to stop a similar cyber incident occurring again.
How to reduce your cyber insurance costs?
Discounts are available from some insurers if you:
- regularly scan services exposed to the internet for vulnerabilities;
- regularly send simulated phishing email tests to all user, and you enforce additional anti-phishing training for those who fail:
- use an EPP (Endpoint Protection Platform) and/or EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response).
What covers are available at an additional cost?
- Social engineering fraud - means the act of influencing a person to divulge sensitive information or to perform a task, which typically results in a voluntary payment to the fraudster.
- Crime insurance - provides financial protection from a fraudulent taking, or appropriation of money, securities, or property (third-party, employee, or to the deprivation of a client).
- Tech Errors and omissions - otherwise known as professional indemnity cover, provides cover for mistakes, neglect, or unintentional breach of duty when providing a technology or professional service.
About the author
Simon Taylor is a respected senior industry professional and a Chartered Insurance Broker with over 20 years’ of experience in the commercial insurance sector as an underwriter, broker and director.