Do Consultants Need Cyber Insurance Cover?

by constructaquote - 20 February 2019

We live in a digital age where new advances in technology not only bring many advantages to business owners and consumers but plenty of new risks as well.

With the cyber-world saturated with harmful viruses and hackers working hard at disrupting data, if your business relies on technology, it’s important to protect your customers or business details by taking the correct security measures.

All it takes is a small breach in security for important information to get leaked into the wrong hands. Not only can this be detrimental to your customers personal identity but can seriously affect your business too.

Although cyber security risks are high, many businesses are unaware of the risks and only a surprisingly low number of business have taken extra precautionary methods to protect their technology and data. Many businesses act naïvely and assume that cyber hacking only happens to large high-profile companies with a high-revenue and millions of user data. However, even the smallest business can be at risk of cyber hacking.

In 2016, half of all UK businesses suffered some sort of cyber-security issue with the average cost effecting smaller businesses within the region of £5,000-£20,000. That’s a significant amount that could bring many businesses to an end.

Some possible outcomes as a result of a cyber security attack are:

• Delays in business trading
  • Most businesses will need to close whilst investigating the cause of the hack.
• Disgruntled customers
  • Customers’ personal data and information could end up leaked causing identity theft.
• Security overhauls
  • Updating or implementing new security features to prevent the issue from happening again. This can be costly and time consuming to re-train staff.
• Bankruptcy or business closure
  • Many businesses simply cannot survive after the effects of an attack if data is stolen and a reputation is tarnished.

What Is Cyber Liability Insurance?

Cyber Liability insurance is designed to protect consultants and businesses in the event of a cyber security breach. Many policies will cover the cost of repairing and restoring systems, data and website following a hack. Most policies will also cover the legal costs associated with dealing with the problem as well as any lost revenue due to a stop in trading.

It’s important to note that whilst cyber liability won’t stop an attack from happening, it can, however, reduce the after effects and minimise the blows to your business.

Like other types of insurance products, cyber liability insurance comes with many options of cover. Whether you’re a freelance consultant, a new start-up or you’re running a growing SME, cyber insurance policies come with different levels of cover and different price options. Cyber liability insurance comes at a low premium in comparison to the potentially detrimental repercussions of a data breach.

“For small businesses, nothing is more important than protecting their livelihood. Cyber liability insurance is another tool they can use to prevent financial disaster in the event of a malicious attack” – Natalie Cooper, editor of BankingSense.com

Who Needs Cyber Liability Insurance?

Cyber liability insurance should be a consideration for any business that uses technology and even more importantly, any business that uses technology to store customer data.

Here are some questions to consider to determine if your business uses technology that would benefit from cyber liability cover.

• Does your business use email?
• Does your business have a website?
• Does your business store customer data electronically?

If you use any of the above within your business, it’s a good idea to protect your business from potential security risks with a cyber liability insurance policy.

Would your business benefit from a cyber liability insurance policy? Check out our cover here.

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