It is no secret that the insurance industry is changing as technology companies attempt to modernize the industry. While insurtech has been an emerging trend over the past year, purchasing cyber policies online is something entirely new, until now. CoverHound CEO Keith Moore has announced cyberpolicy.com, a new product that will simplify cyber insurance sales by underwriting the security vendors used by insureds. This model will allow small business customers to bind their cyber policies online, greatly simplifying both the underwriting and purchasing process. While CoverHound is already an online agency for auto, home and small business insurance sales, Moore looks at cyberpolicy.com as a means to attract small businesses that do not need the same insurance coverages that medium and large-sized businesses require. “It’s a good gateway into a new customer base,” explains Moore. “It’s also an opportunity to educate and create new products for the new risks that are evolving on a monthly basis now, considering how many apps are out there and…all the data that’s floating around on a digital basis.” Moore has also announced that instead of using a single carrier, “the combination of a bunch of really good carriers” as well as an education product is the best way to get small businesses focused on cybersecurity education.
Additionally, Moore explained that cyberpolicy.com is unlike anything on the market today. “We feel that if I know your plan, if I know which security tools you’re using, that’s a good part of the underwriting already. So I really wouldn’t have to ask you as many questions about your business other than some raw data points that wouldn’t be available from third-party sources,” he said. The key idea behind cyberpolicy.com is their three-part process with the first being the need to have a solid cybersecurity plan in place. The second will be an in-depth review of the cyber prevention tools that will ultimately help the organization be more secure. The last, and potentially most important step, will be helping the small business construct a plan and then finding the right vendors to work with them. “Whether it’s a large security firm or a small security software offering, “the task will be finding the appropriate level of insurance to complete the protection plan. While Moore explains that all three parts are equal, the key aspect is having all three pieces working together simultaneously. “Right now it’s very fragmented. You’ve got insurance operating independently of all these great security companies that are out there. And then people are creating plans independent of those two. If you can bring those three things together, it should be a better experience, especially for a small business,” he said. Surely this will not be a simple process; Moore has acknowledged that this is a new field for CoverHound making partnerships a crucial and important piece of the puzzle.