Dive Brief:
- Marsh is launching a program to help organizations that lack sophisticated security controls gain access to insurance coverage. Cyber Pathway will match organizations with coverage provided by four participating insurers, the global insurance broker and risk management firm said Tuesday.
- “This is for organizations that historically either haven't bought cyber [insurance] because they're new to the market, or they haven't bought cyber [insurance] because they haven't had the controls in place,” said Susan Young, managing director of Marsh’s cyber practice in the U.S. and Canada.
- The New York-based insurance company is making the Cyber Pathway program available to organizations with up to $7.5 billion in annual revenue.
Dive Insight:
Many businesses have difficulty attaining insurance coverage because their security controls and policies don’t meet providers’ requirements.
“We want to remove that barrier to make cyber insurance accessible to everyone,” Young said.
Marsh’s program is designed to help match organizations with insurance providers, but also encourage businesses to improve their controls to gain access to coverage enhancements. Participating insurers include Beazley, Chubb, Coalition and Resilience.
Marsh and insurers participating in the program haven’t set minimum standards for security controls, but organizations that want more expansive coverage will have to meet a higher standard.
“The coverage that these companies would get out of the gate will be a little bit more restricted than it would be if they had controls in place,” Young said. Organizations that implement additional security controls, as recommended by the insurers, would have coverage restrictions lifted.
Organizations that are interested in the program must contact Marsh to complete a self-assessment, which carriers review in accordance with underwriting criteria and provide coverage options based on a risk assessment.
