With the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) taking effect exactly five months after Christmas, surveys have gauged where insurance brokers and SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) stand when it comes to preparedness. Now new survey findings have been released, showing how the imminent rules are impacting the take-up of cyber cover in the UK.
According to specialist lines underwriting agency
CFC Underwriting, a survey conducted at the 2017 Cyber Symposium in London found that 80% of respondents were seeing rising demand for cyber insurance as a direct result of GDPR. This was consistent with 2016’s survey findings, which foresaw GDPR’s potential impact to cover demand for this year.
“Under the GDPR there will be a requirement that businesses have an incident response plan in place and must notify any data breach no later than 72 hours of becoming aware of the event,” noted CFC chief innovation officer Graeme Newman.
He continued: “To do this, businesses are going to need access to a whole raft of specialists and that’s going to have a disproportionate effect on SMEs who are unlikely to have this level of capability in-house. They could find themselves scrambling for help and possibly face missing the cut off, thus exposing themselves to breaching the new rules.
“I think that there is a greater realisation as GDPR looms ever closer that cyber insurance can offer a valuable lifeline. As well as protecting them against the emerging threats of the digital age, the right provider will give insureds instant access to carefully selected specialists who can guide them every step of the way from creating an incident response plan to dealing with a cyberattack.”
Related stories:
Can UK SMEs withstand the repercussions of GDPR non-compliance?
GDPR: Exposures, claims, premium rates could all increase
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