NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Brianne Spellane
Senior Director, Communications & Content Strategy
202.662.4303
brianne.spellane@ciab.com
Market Capacity Plentiful and Premium Pricing Largely Flat in First Half of 2018, According to CIAB Cyber Market Watch Survey
WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 30, 2018 – The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers released its sixth biannual Cyber Market Watch Survey today. Results were consistent with responses from the first and second halves of 2017: cyber insurance take-up rate remained low at 32 percent, and 89 percent of respondents saw premium pricing stay flat or decrease over the past six months. Respondents also agreed that market capacity was plentiful, and some even noted an increase in capacity due to an influx of insurers moving into the cyber market space.
“Although brokers and their clients reported an increase in attention and awareness on cybersecurity and cyber coverage, we still have not seen that translate into an increase in take-up rate,” said Ken A. Crerar, President/CEO of The Council. “Roughly 32 percent of respondents’ clients purchased cyber coverage in the past six months marking no significant change over the past two years.”
One issue that many respondents agreed upon was a lack of clarity from carriers as to what was covered or excluded in a cyber policy, which they ascribed to how rapidly cyber risks evolve. Additionally, The Council used the survey to explore the effects of the EU’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as well as how recent cyber events may have impacted adoption of cyber coverage. Many respondents indicated that although the new regulation hadn’t affected their clients’ cyber coverage purchasing practices, the continuing media coverage of cyberattacks increased their mindfulness to purchase coverage.
According to the survey, 86 percent of respondents reported that they have a proactive, strategic approach to marketing and educating clients and prospects about cyber risks. Moreover, 67 percent of respondents said that insurance firms partnered with external cybersecurity organizations in order to quantify cyber risk, as well as for post-event response and consulting.