What do brokers want from cyber insurers?

Through Insurance Business’s 2023 ‘5-Star Cyber’ report, the publication celebrated the cyber insurance players at the forefront of the rapid expansion of this product.

To determine the best cyber insurers for 2023, Insurance Business UK conducted one-on-one interviews with specialist brokers, surveying the wider market in a bid to understand what insurance professionals think of current market offerings. Among the key questions posed to brokers was what more they want from their cyber insurers – and the results reveal the high expectations facing cyber insurance providers today.

Commenting on what they would look to see embedded as standard practice within the UK sector, one broker said it’s important to, “increase flexibility and understanding around MFA [multifactor authentication]. A lot of underwriters still have a ‘no MFA, no quote’ attitude, even if a client is in the process of implementing MFA.” 

On the subject of MFA, Erica Kofie, head of cyber proposition at 5-Star Cyber winner QBE noted that QBE has allowed some clients a grace period for the implementation of MFA, as it understands that not all companies had this in place when the insurer first started to require it.

See the full list of winners for UK’s top cyber insurance companies | 5-Star Cyber 2023 in our special report.

 “MFA for remote access has been identified as a key defence against malicious actors seeking to gain unauthorised access to client networks,” Kofie said. “Indeed, Microsoft states that MFA can stop 99.9% of compromised account attacks. Clearly, MFA is not the silver bullet for all malicious attacks, and there are emerging threats using ‘man-in-the-middle’ tactics to circumvent MFA controls; however, it is widely considered a key element of basic cyber hygiene.”

Another broker requested that insurers, “deploy meaningful capacity on a primary basis.” Touching on this demand, Kofie highlighted that while QBE understands the demand for large primary capacity, the insurance market is trying to provide sustainable cover to clients.

“Managing capacity, particularly on a primary basis, helps insurers manage the potential volatility in their portfolios,” she said. “We have seen large losses destabilise insurers’ portfolios. Larger line sizes are available when written on a co-insurance basis, although these types of placements are rare in the cyber market.”

Other requests from brokers in the market asked that providers improve their offerings through increased flexibility, by keeping up to date with the latest technologies and advice on risk management, by stopping restrictions on cover, by educating brokers, by simplifying products and by training brokers so they can educate clients. 

Read more: 5-Star Cyber 2023