NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brianne Spellane
Senior Director, Communications & Content Strategy
202.662.4303
brianne.spellane@ciab.com
Cyber Insurance Market Competitive; Capacity Plentiful in
Second Half of 2018, According to CIAB Survey
WASHINGTON, D.C. – February 6, 2019 – Take-up rate remained low in the second half of 2018, with 33 percent of respondents’ clients having purchased at least some form of cyber coverage, according to The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers’ seventh Cyber Market Watch Survey, released today. The Council’s survey aims to provide a deeper look at current trends in the cyber insurance market.
Results from the most recent survey followed trends seen in 2017 and early 2018. The number of first-time buyers of cyber insurance remained the same as in the summer 2018 survey: 32 percent of those who purchased cyber insurance purchased it for the first time.
“While respondents agreed that clients view cyber insurance as important to have, this did not necessarily translate to clients increasing their budgets for higher limits or increased coverage,” explained Ken A. Crerar, president/CEO of The Council. “As a result, take-up rate and coverage levels remained consistent over the past two years.”
Perhaps the most notable result from this survey was that 30 percent of respondents said that there was sufficient clarity from carriers when it came to cyber policies, nearly double the number of respondents who said the same in the last survey.
Responses also made clear that Council members continued their efforts to better educate their clients about the necessity for cyber insurance: eighty-five (85) percent of respondents have a defined program in place to market and educate their clients about cyber insurance. However, most respondents agreed that their clients were also pushed to purchase cyber insurance if they had either heard “horror stories” about a data breach (such as the Marriott breach) or were directly affected by regulations like the EU’s General Protection Data Regulation or the New York Department of Financial Services’ Cybersecurity Rule.
When asked what the government can do to facilitate the purchasing of cyber insurance, respondents indicated that because cyber insurance is already widely available, the government would be better suited to implementing regulations meant to protect U.S. firms nationwide. Suggestions included a national threat database and a national cybersecurity baseline.