Financial damage from cyber attacks grows despite falling claims volumes

While the number of insurance claims related to cyber attacks across the UK and Europe is seeing a welcome fall, the financial scale of such claims is growing.

This is according to the latest annual Cyber Claims Report from insurer Chubb, released yesterday (25 August 2026), which said insurers need to stay alert to an ever-changing cyber landscape.

The report found that large firms – those above £740m in annual revenue – have seen the number of claims per 100 policies fall from 5.29 in 2020 to 1.75 in 2025, while middle market firms likewise saw a drop from 3 to 1.51.

Meanwhile, SMEs – those with under £73m in annual revenue – saw rates remain steady at 1.58.

However, over the same five-year period, large firms have seen average claims values climb from £722m to £1.6bn, while middle market firms’ claims skyrocketed from £76,000 to £236,000. SMEs saw a more modest rise from £43,000 to £61,000.

Supply chain risks

Jimaan Sané, head of global cyber growth at Chubb, highlighted that “mid-sized businesses increasingly face the same level of cyber disruption as large corporates, but often without the same operational resilience”.

“As well as identifying and preventing a business’ own cyber failures, there is the challenge of financial and operational fallouts when interconnected systems, suppliers and partners are compromised,” he added.

“Consider when a technology provider is struck by ransomware, the consequences rarely stay contained. For the retailers, manufacturers and service businesses that depend on that provider’s systems, the impact can be immediate and severe – sales transactions halted, inventory visibility lost and operations suspended.

“Though the attack originates outside their walls, the business interruption loss lands squarely on their balance sheet. This growing exposure underscores the critical importance of contingent business interruption coverage in any comprehensive cyber risk strategy.”