Professional liability
Coverage for claims that your service, advice or deliverable caused a client financial loss, including the cost of defending the claim.
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Cyber insurance
Cyber liability insurance
Breach response, business interruption, extortion and third-party liability for businesses that hold client data, run on cloud systems or get paid online.
Who needs it
Who this is for
If a locked laptop, a hijacked inbox or a fraudulent invoice would stop you working or expose a client, you have the exposure.
- Agencies and consultancies holding client data and campaign assets
- Accounting and professional firms with financial records
- Production companies with unreleased content and crew data
- E-commerce and any business taking payments online
- Businesses whose client contracts require cyber coverage
What it covers
Coverage parts, and what to watch on each
Summaries only. The policy wording governs, and every carrier's form is different.
| Coverage | What it does | What to watch |
|---|---|---|
| Breach response | Forensics, legal counsel, notification, credit monitoring and public relations after a data incident. | Confirm the panel. The carrier's response team is often the most valuable part of the policy. |
| Business interruption | Lost income and extra expense while systems are down after a covered event. | Waiting periods of 8 to 12 hours are common. Dependent business interruption (your vendor's outage) may be a sublimit. |
| Cyber extortion | Ransomware negotiation and payment where lawful, plus restoration. | Sublimits and coinsurance are increasingly common. Backups and MFA affect both price and availability. |
| Funds transfer fraud and social engineering | Money lost to a fraudulent payment instruction. | Often a low sublimit. A verbal call-back rule before any payment change is the most effective control. |
| Third-party liability | Claims and regulatory actions from people whose data you exposed, including defense. | Fines and penalties are covered where insurable, which varies by state. |
| Media liability (limited) | Some cyber forms include online media claims. | A narrow version. Agencies and publishers need a proper media form. |
The hard part
What it does not cover
- Bodily injury and property damage
- Loss of value of intellectual property
- Fines that the law makes uninsurable
- Incidents known before the policy began
- Betterment: upgrading systems beyond their previous state
Underwriters now ask about multi-factor authentication, backups and endpoint protection before they quote. Having them in place is the difference between a quote and a decline.
How to get it
From first call to bound coverage
- 01Answer the controls questionsMFA, backups, endpoint protection and payment approvals.
- 02Size the exposureRecords held, revenue dependent on systems, contract requirements.
- 03Choose limits and sublimitsExtortion and funds transfer fraud sublimits deserve attention.
- 04Know the hotlineWhen something happens, the first call is to the carrier's response line. We make sure you have it.
Questions
Common questions
We are small. Would anyone target us?
Most incidents are automated or opportunistic: phishing, credential theft, invoice fraud. Size is not a filter. Small firms are hit because they are easier, not because they are valuable.
Does our general liability or BOP cover cyber?
General liability excludes electronic data almost entirely. Some BOPs offer a cyber endorsement with a small sublimit. For a real exposure, a standalone cyber policy is the answer.
What is social engineering coverage?
Coverage for money you voluntarily send because someone tricked you: a fake vendor bank change, a spoofed executive email. It is usually a sublimit and needs to be asked for.
What controls do carriers require?
At minimum, multi-factor authentication on email and remote access, tested offline backups, and endpoint protection. Without them, quotes are limited or declined.
Is ransomware covered?
On most forms, yes, within a sublimit and sometimes with coinsurance. Payment is only where lawful, and the carrier's negotiators handle it.
Related
Often placed alongside
Media liability
Errors and omissions for what you create, publish and advertise: defamation, privacy, copyright and trademark claims, with the cost of defending them.
Media liabilityBusiness owner's policy
General liability, commercial property and business income in one package, built for small and mid-size businesses with a premises and low-hazard operations.
Business owner's policyStart with the quote form, or a call.
The online application takes a few minutes for standard business lines. For production, media and professional liability, call or email and we will tell you what we need.