A novel cyber offering entered the market a month ago when broker Andrew Brett (pictured) announced the launch of Infosure Insurance. In a LinkedIn post, he described the new firm, started with three colleagues, as “a dedicated cyber insurance brokerage” and a “first of its kind” offering.
Insurance Business asked Brett to explain Infosure’s claims.
“What makes our offering first of its kind is the services we can provide in house,” he said. “We have IT solutions and cyber auditing services so we don’t send our clients off to find a solution themselves, or even try and source the solution externally ourselves.”
Brett said his firm’s point of difference - partly confirmed, he said, by feedback from insurers – is its ability to provide “all three pieces of the cyber landscape: IT solutions (MSPs), cyber auditing and cyber insurance.”
IB asked if, in general terms, this offering is about providing a business with the means to mitigate and prevent cyberattacks and then it’s the insurance, arranged separately, that facilitates the response to any attack?
“Correct, 100%,” said Brett. “I think the key takeaway is giving cyber the respect it deserves.”
Many cyber policies are sold by brokerages that also focus on more general policies. Brett astutely pointed out that this is likely a reason why cyber uptake among businesses is so low. The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has estimated that only about 20% of SMEs have cyber covers.
“The gap in the market we identified is that there is naturally an exhaustion point with any client during a meeting where there are five to six policies being discussed,” he said.
Property, liability and motor coverages, he said, tend to take centre stage in any customer meeting because they are already in place.
“Then at the tail end of the meeting, cyber gets brought up,” said Brett.
However, by this time, he said, the client is looking at their watch and cyber often gets brushed aside. He also said after locking in the general policies “it becomes easier [for the broker] to note that the client wasn’t interested in taking up the [cyber] policy and everyone moves on.”
“We’re just doing cyber insurance,” said Brett. “We’re not doing property, motor or liability and then at the end of a meeting with a customer telling them there’s a thing called cyber and they should probably look into it.’”
He said for cyber to get the focus it needs, the entire broker/client meeting needs to be about cyber.
“This is where we’re rustling some [broker] feathers,” said Brett.
Key to increasing the number of businesses with cyber cover, he said, is education. Recent weeks have seen Infosure roll out educational videos (video posted immediately below) and repost relevant cyber articles.
“I personally don’t think clients - and many brokers for that matter - truly understand the depth of cover that a policy provides,” said Brett.
Or, he suggested, the extent of the cyber threat to businesses of all kinds.
“There are so many people that have no idea that everything they’ve built over the last 25 years could go in one cyber incident,” he said. “Hackers aren’t petty criminals, they can be well funded and work in offices at desks with a lunch room.”
Their cyber proposition, said Brett, starts with a full cyber audit.
“I’ll let people know straight away, it’s going to be confronting because I think a lot of people don’t understand how much there is out there,” said Brett.
He said their cyber offering can cater for “$2 million to $200 million businesses.”
However, Brett said the cyber risks for these companies can be very different.
“The small business owner is worried about losing their livelihood, a board of directors is worried about getting fired,” he said.
The Infosure director, formerly with Brenning Insurance Services, said some colleagues were concerned he might become jaded or lose interest by focusing on one insurance line only.
“I’ve had people say to me, ‘Aren’t you going to get bored doing one line?’ But I say it [the cyber risk and insurance world] is insane, it’s a rabbit hole,” said Brett. “This is what fascinates me.”
What new offerings have you noticed in the cyber market? Please tell us below.
