Cyber Insurance:
These days even the smallest businesses need to be online and engaged with the digital world to operate. While this new age has opened up fresh opportunities for businesses worldwide, it’s also brought with it significant risks.
Phelan Caswell Insurances work closely with insurers locally and in the UK markets, giving us access to a wide range of comprehensive policies suited for any business needs at competitive premiums.
A cyber liability insurance policy can help protect businesses from claims and support their profitability in the event of a cyber-breach or attack. It’s common for most businesses to hold customer data, whether it be emails, addresses, financial details, or other personal information. All of this is valuable to hackers who can sell or use this information for fraudulent purposes.
Cyber liability insurance is a type of business insurance product, which protects your business against both the legal costs and expenses (including compensation payments) related to cybercrime incidents. Your coverage may generally include cover for expenses and legal costs relating to the following*:
- Data breaches
- Theft or loss of client information
- Business interruption costs
- Forensic investigation
- Data recovery
- Extortion
- Fines and penalties
- Crisis management costs (to restore your businesses reputation after an attack or data breach)
- Legal costs from any ensuing civil action taken against you or your company
Businesses can be severely disrupted by a range of different attacks on your business, some of these threats are as follows:
Ransomware – Such malware can encrypt the targeted data making your data unavailable to you. The hacker then proceeds to extort you and expects you to pay a ransom to receive the unlock code.
Phishing – The attackers usually pose trustworthy contacts such as a bank or online service and attempt to access sensitive information from a targeted individual or organisation.
Hacking – This threat involves accessing the target individual’s IT systems or firm from outside to get sensitive information from their system databases.
Directors and Officers Liability (D&O) insurance
Directors and Officers Liability (D&O) insurance is designed to cover the cost of compensation claims made against your business’s directors and key managers (officers) for alleged wrongful acts. Directors and Officers Insurance is relevant for any Director, Officer or Senior Manager of a public, private or government organisation. Claims can arise from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to:
- Breach of trust
- Breach of duty
- Neglect
- Error
- Misleading statements
- Wrongful trading
Covers and additional covers available:
Directors & Officers
Directors, business owners and senior management could take decisions, or make errors or omissions that land them in hot water legally. Accusations of alleged wrongdoings can come from many different sources, including other directors and shareholders, and it can be the individual who is personally held accountable. Directors and Officers Insurance protects them from any large defence or compensation costs, fines or penalties, providing the allegation doesn’t relate to any intentional breaches, such as fraud.
Corporate Legal Liability
Corporate legal liability is similar to D&O insurance but defends claims made against the company as opposed to individuals. These claims range from maladministration of a company pension, an employee benefit claim, breach of data protection or corporate identity crime. And also defence costs of health and safety, taxation or other regulatory claims
Employment Practices Liability (EPL)
Actions alleging discrimination, harassment, breach of employment contract, defamation, misleading misrepresentation, wrongful discipline, etc.
Pension Trustee liability (PTL).
Although often unpaid, trustees are expected to understand and keep up to date with the laws and investment principles of their schemes. They must challenge their advisors and employers when they need to. Failure can result in fines or other penalties against them and the company.
Pension trustee liability insurance is designed to meet defence costs, awards, damages, and investigation costs of trustees involved in running the pension scheme who are accused of mistakes or oversights in their duties.
Professional Indemnity
Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance is designed to help respond to claims against your business for losses due to actual or alleged negligent acts or omissions in the provision of your professional service or advice. Professional Indemnity insurance may also help with legal costs associated with responding to or managing claims covered by the policy. Not all businesses are the same; therefore, there is no “one size fits all” policy when it comes to your professional indemnity policy.
It isn’t always required by law but is often required by regulatory or professional bodies. Plus, many companies find it instils a degree of confidence and credibility in their organisation and the work they do.
Many businesses choose to take out professional indemnity insurance to protect themselves against claims – these include but not limited to:
- Accountants
- Architects
- Chartered surveyors
- Financial advisers
- Advertising agencies
- Consultancies
- Design agencies
- Public relations agencies
- It consultants
- Business consultants
- Surveyors
- Engineers
- Design and construction
- Interior designers
- Coaching, training and education
- Risk management