More companies opting for cyber insurance, hiking limit: Bharat Re Insurance Brokers

More and more companies are taking up cyber insurance in recent years and those with existing policies are looking to hike their covers, said TL Arunachalam, Director and Head, Cyber and Emerging Risks Practice, Bharat Re Insurance Brokers.

“There has been a good response to cyber insurance in the last two to three years, It has been growing in two aspects — those who had bought a cover in the past are looking for increased limits for insurance. There are also new buyers in sectors apart from banking,” he told BusinessLine.

Companies in sectors like manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, e-publishing and service providers are also now buying cyber insurance, he said.

While companies with clients in Europe or the US now insist on having cyber insurance before any business activity takes place, there has also been an increase in incidences of ransomware, especially during the pandemic, he said.

Most companies in the banking and insurance sector had been taking cyber covers in recent years but other corporates had been slow to adapt, according to industry watchers.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India too had recently noted that the economic situation owing to Covid-19 pandemic has seen an exponential increase in cyber attacks across the globe and, in particular, the financial sector. The IRDAI has also formed a committee now to review its insurance and security guidelines.

Meanwhile, commenting on the pandemic and its impact on businesses, Vijay Thyagarajan, Principal Officer and CEO, Bharat Re Insurance Brokers, said it has highlighted the need for business interruption cover.

“Business interruption cover was not being bought even before Covid. The cover should not be looked at only from the point of view of a pandemic,” Thyagarajan said, adding that business interruption could happen even due to other accidents like fire or a flood.

“People are slowly realising this,” he noted, adding that Covid has highlighted that business interruption is a real possibility.

Most business interruption covers globally do not cover the non-damage interruptions such as the Covid-19 lockdown.