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Definitely not more cyber rubbish

DEFINITELY NOT MORE CYBER RUBBISH

We hear all the time, I’m ok, I’m covered, or they are not after the likes of me!!!

Well I’m sorry to tell you but as a business or even a home owner or renter, the ball game has changed and cyber cover is being taken very seriously by Insurance companies. So much so that they are starting to rewrite policies to avoid mentioning anything that could be linked or affected by a cyber related incident

The Business insurance fiasco where Insurers claimed, an old ‘assumption’ that a virus like covid would be a government problem was not theirs, and it spectacularly backfired. Saying ‘sorry not us’ was not acceptable to the Regulator -the Financial Conduct Authority- who stepped and took a group of Insurers to the High Court and won. Hence the pay-outs that are still taking place began and will continue until it is over

That was a wakeup call to Insurers where they have remained virtually unchanged is what they are covering for years and more importantly on what they pay out on, leaving the end customer too many times having to face a tortuous fight to get what they deserve. The hope by some insurers is that by stalling the claimant will ultimately accept a lesser figure.

Perhaps you have been there, but where cash flow is interrupted and it’s hard to borrow easily, the customer gives in and the insurer walks away

But times are changing, the recent Colonial pipeline in the US where Colonials supply line to the east coast was hacked and supply cut off highlighted all too clearly how petrol stations were closing for no supply. It’s all down to the Internet of things but we have ignored the downside  

The internet of things is involved in so many areas from your own computers to alarm systems, manufacturing processes, the electronics in your car, satnav, they are all reliant on the internet. Scamming and fraud have become the playground of the internet savvy crooks to cause enormous damage that is a bigger earner that the drug trade

And why because we think we are ok and it won’t happen to munchkin me or my company, and I’m not the big fish they are after. But you are wrong they are after anyone, any size who slips up on their own security and yes you can continue to ignore it, but soon cyber cover and where your business is affected or home will be a separate policy and not a small addendum in your main policy

In the US it has been a legal obligation for all businesses to have cyber cover as a standalone policy for years, and it won’t be too long before business will be offered the same here. Although making it a statutory obligation seems to be miles away yet. As our politicians in general don’t really seem to get the nature of risk until it hits them between the eyes, and even then that’s questionable

So please start to be more cyber aware, use the cloud for storing your work, change your passwords more regularly and make them longer, with hackers computers doing millions of permutations to crack a password every second, the loser will be you and your business if you don’t adapt and accept longer passwords. Please turn off your computers fully at night and make life confusing for external threats and life way more difficult for hackers. Leaving your computer running and not fully switched is like leaving your front door open when you have gone to bed!

It’s getting harder out there for all of us, and it’s best in business to cast a cynical approach to anyone quietly but intentionally all the same until you know them well. Trust hasto be earned  

So I hear you say, are there good cyber covers? Honestly not really and not yet!!

The obligation is still for you to install as much safety as you can to then get covered, the questionnaires are horrendously long and you need to be an IT expert to answer them. Doing nothing to protect your data and by natural extension your business or home will make you look like you don’t care. 

Just think, when you agree to pay an excess to reduce the Insurers liability, undeniably you are reducing the cost of cover you pay upfront, it makes the initial cost less painful, but the liability for the excess is still down to you all the same

In today’s world, nothing is free and if you want to allow someone to literally walk away with all your integral information, account numbers, card number suppliers and customers details simply because you weren’t prepared to protect yourself then go right ahead and carry on. Hackers don’t give a flying fig about you or the damage they cause

Trident say it how it is, and we have no want to upset you, but respectfully you need to really wake you up where you may not have realised you have to adapt 

We won’t lead you up the garden path selling you policies you don’t need. We have been around for near on 25 years and with trust in Insurance being so bad today, and the fiasco of the recent Business Insurance debacle still very much in most people’s minds, trust in the value of insurance has never been lower. Fintech makes no difference if the cover is only subject to 35 pages of disclaimers, exemptions and exclusions and that is where a good broker comes in. We strip away the bull and tell you straight, for sure it may not be what you want to hear but it is always honest and what we do.

With remote working turning into a more relevant than temporary work style, security is integral 24/7. If you think you are already covered under your traditional insurance, please read the small print again. I can assure you it won’t help much if you have to make a claim. Exemptions and exclusions in some case make cover almost redundant

Serios cyber cover is going to be the next insurance that we will all need, simply because the growth of the internet of things is not diminishing at all. 

We are not here to scare the pants of you, but this really is a wakeup call now. Insurance companies are not a social service but businesses. So please don’t be tempted by a happy family scene you see in advertising. You may run a business or you are a private individual and when dealing with a business you need to have your body armour ready so not to be fooled by smooth talking or friendly advertising, things have got serious now

Trident Insurance are 100% independent brokers, we owe getting the best cover and most competitive pricing we can to you, our Clients and potential Clients, ensuring you deal with the right Insurers many of whom are Lloyd’s underwriters. We will advise you always and where we don’t know the answer, we will find out and get straight back, as no one has all the answers. 

Cyber damage is a hidden danger ready to strike if you let it. Please protect yourselves, your family and your business, and there is no better place than to come to secure that protection for Commercial and Business cover or Personal insurance than here at Trident Insurance Brokers.

Please call 0800 038 9000 or check out our website on www.trident-insurace.co.uk