"More than half of malware attack victims are small businesses, and the consequences and costs which arise from these attacks are almost always very damaging"
The product is specifically designed to cater for the needs of smaller SME businesses, which are at high risk of suffering cyber-attacks but which rarely have appropriate insurance cover in place.
This is the first product launched by CPP since its recent entry into the insurance broker market and follows its recent acquisition of Business & Domestic Insurance Services.
It is estimated that cyber-crime costs SMEs in excess of £800m per year. With lower capital reserves and minimal access to professional IT resources, smaller SME organisations are particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks and the consequent interruption to business, loss of revenue and the possibility of incurring heavy regulatory fines.
The new cyber insurance policy offers selectable indemnity limits of between £50k and £2m and a substantially reduced question set. SMEs will be insured against the liabilities arising from a cyber-attack and any related breach of data privacy legislation.
The policy also provides SME customers with direct access to a 24/7 helpline, free antivirus software, and cloud-hosted backup storage. Should an incident occur, the policy provides access to a specialist IT forensic company to investigate what data has been compromised. Public relations support will also be available to mitigate against any potential reputational damage.
Michael Whitfield, managing director of CPP Group UK, commented: “More than half of malware attack victims are small businesses, and the consequences and costs which arise from these attacks are almost always very damaging, sometimes to a fatal extent. Attacks by cyber criminals are becoming more sophisticated as every day passes and all businesses need help if they are to be able to counter the threats posed to them. Despite this, many SMEs treat cyber security as low priority.
“Our cyber insurance policy will make it easy for brokers to offer their smaller SME clients a simple policy, which includes important cover at a very affordable price. Making it available through Acturis allows us to reach the extensive list of specialist commercial insurance brokers using the platform and we look forward to partnering with them to protect at-risk SMEs.”
Jennifer Wainwright, specialty lines product manager at Acturis, added: “It’s great to work with CPP Group UK to extend the cyber products available on our new, reduced Cyber NOW question set for stand-alone business. We are also thrilled that CPP has chosen Acturis to be a part of this launch and it’s testament to Acturis’ reputation in the insurance market and Cyber in particular that CPP has chosen us as the platform to do this.”
