New to cyber: How does cyber insurance work?

From the application process to coverage details and making a claim—find everything you need to know about how cyber insurance works in this quick overview.

Cyber Article 4 min Thu, Apr 4, 2024

Designed to significantly lower cyber risk, cyber insurance gives vital support when businesses experience a cyber incident. But how do cyber policies actually work, from submitting an application to understanding points of coverage and finally making a claim?

That’s what our next New to cyber article is all about. Read on for a complete cyber insurance walkthrough, including insights on why cyber insurance is one of the best investments any business can make.

How it works

The application process

While some insurance providers require lengthy application forms, at CFC we just need brokers to supply a single piece of information: the business’s website URL. We’ll then return three different quotes for the business. The secret to our streamlined process is our advanced proprietary technology, enabling us to calculate a business’s cyber risk in seconds. So making an application couldn’t be easier.

Get started with Connect, our intuitive trading platform, here

If you’d rather fill in an application form, we try to keep them as simple as possible. You can find and submit one on our product pages here.

Coverage details

Different cyber insurance products offer different levels of protection, and there are many nuances in that cover that you need to be aware of. For example, does the policy offer to recover data or also recreate that data from scratch if it’s deemed unrecoverable? Going with broad coverage is the best way to ensure your policy will respond to whatever kind of cyber event you are experiencing, to give businesses the support they need.

CFC provides comprehensive cybercrime cover to protect our policyholders from a wide range of cyber risks, including incidents that stem from human error (cyber events caused by an employee) and insider attacks (cyber events carried out by rogue employees).

But know that most policies will not cover:

  • Pre-existing incidents: cyber events that occurred before the policy was purchased.
  • System improvements: any costs related to improving a business’s technology systems.
  • Known vulnerabilities: if a cyber event is caused by failing to address a known error or vulnerability.

Learn more about different types of coverages and what you should look for in your policy here.

Reporting an incident and making a claim

Whatever the cyber event, CFC has built a simple yet extensive incident response and claims process that’s scalable and designed to work in tandem with your business, to get you back up and running, fast.

  1. Notify

    Available 24/7, the fastest way to notify CFC of a cyber incident or claim is through our mobile app, Response. Customers can also notify us via email, phone or the website.

  2. Triage

    A technical expert will get in contact within 15 minutes, to assess the situation and identify the necessary resources to address the incident. 

  3. Expert remediation

    We’ll guide you throughout the process and activate our expert in-house team or third-party specialists if required. If it’s a claim, a dedicated cyber claims adjuster or technical incident responder will work with the business. 

  4. Recovery and resolution

    Throughout the process, all stakeholders will be regularly updated on how incident remediation and the claim is progressing. At the end of the process, a findings call will bring the claim to a close. We’ll ensure there are no outstanding issues and work around the clock to get you back up and running. 

The cost of cyber insurance

The cost of cyber insurance varies. But what all policies have in common is that premiums are far cheaper than the cost of recovering from a cyber attack, and so are more than worth the money.

The cost of cyber insurance can be influenced by:

  • Business size and industry
  • Annual revenue
  • Volume of sensitive data
  • Cyber security posture
  • The proactive prevention services on offer

Learn more about why cyber insurance is great value for any business.

Ready to get started?

Discover the fundamentals of cyber insurance and why it’s a must-have for any business in our on-demand webinar, Broker essentials: Cyber.