’If the broker doesn’t feel comfortable offering cyber insurance then there’s a fat chance the client is going to absorb it,’ says distribution manager
Cyber insurers must ensure that their messaging around the importance of cyber protection is “digestible” for brokers if they want to reach the full range of UK businesses.
That was according to Matthew Norris, distribution manager at Beazley.
Speaking to Insurance Times yesterday on the first day of the 2024 Biba Conference (15 May 2024), Norris explained: ”Cyber products are sophisticated and errors of exposure are complex, but that doesn’t mean we can’t simplify our messaging.
”If the broker doesn’t feel comfortable offering cyber insurance then there’s a fat chance the client is going to absorb it – and obviously the end game is to get to the buyer.”
This focus on the messaging around the importance of cyber cover is especially pertinent for brokers operating in the smaller end of the market, Norris added.
He explained: ”When a smaller broker is stretched between 20 different lines of coverage then it becomes really difficult to find the time to become comfortable with the subject.
”That’s compared to larger corporate brokers who will have a cyber specialist and know what’s what.”
Threat landscape
Ensuring that messaging is understood is vital because of the heightened cyber threat landscape for UK businesses, Norris noted.
Read: Briefing – Insurance industry is in the grip of cyber conundrum
Read: Cyber insurance is ‘inaccessible’ for SMEs
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He said: ”A lot of companies have the attitude of ‘it’s not going to happen to me’, but we say it’s inevitable.
”If you look at the statistics, the number of attacks on UK businesses is seeing hockey stick growth and goodness knows what it’s going to be like next year.”
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which publishes data on the volume and severity of cyber attacks, noted that, in Q4 2023, 3,010 cyber attacks were reported in the UK.
This was a year-on-year increase of 57%.
Norris, however, added that the number of attacks reported to the ICO “needed to be multiplied by three or a little bit more” to account for the attacks that weren’t reported.
He also explained that the severity of these attacks should be used by brokers to highlight the importance of being protected against cyber incidents.
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