Although typical hazards such as floods, fires and extreme weather conditions affect daily business operations, a new threat has emerged for companies around the world: cybercrime.
Some of the world’s best-known companies, including Uber, Meta, and Crypto.com, have all fallen victim to cyberattacks in recent years. Whether it’s third parties infecting computers with ransomware or hackers compromising users’ private information, businesses of all shapes and sizes can be vulnerable to cyber threats.
What many business owners may not know is that they may be able to recoup some of their cybercrime-related losses through their insurance policies. However, this can be a difficult process. For this reason, hiring public insurance adjusters to properly assess digital damage and review your insurance coverage is a crucial step in getting owners the compensation they are entitled to.
“It is critical to be able to protect important or confidential information,” said Harvey Goodman, President and CEO of Goodman-Gable-Gould/Adjusters International. “Policyholders can purchase cyber policies through their insurance providers that cover first and third-party costs, including ransomware, data recovery costs, security breach response and lost revenue for businesses.”
Goodman-Gable-Gould/AI is a team of public insurance claims adjusters that works with policyholders to help them comply with all policy requirements and provide assistance with claims assessment. The firm’s public adjusters have helped settle billions of dollars in claims for their clients.
Goodman said the insurer’s first step in handling a cyber claim is to hire a claims attorney to work with the insurer’s adjuster. This is much less common for multi-hazard property damage, such as fire or water damage. Additionally, damage control and ransom payments are routinely made through insurance providers, sometimes affiliated with the insurance company. Often an insurer already has providers who are more familiar with how the customer network works than an outside provider, allowing for more efficient recovery.
“Cyber policies are a hybrid of insurance because they often cover both first-party and third-party damages, covering your own damage in the form of hardware, software, and business income, and third-party damage in the form of liability insurance for the disclosure of others’ personal information,” Goodman said.
The requirements for filing proof of loss for cyber claims go through a different process than multi-peril policies, he said. Cyber policies are unique in that the insurer may need to approve many expenses, including responding to data breaches, which are compensated only with insurer-approved providers or pre-approving the insured’s own providers.
Historically, some cyber claims have been covered by a company’s multi-peril policy, but this is becoming rarer due to a spate of claims over the past five years. Goodman gave an example of a time when the firm was able to recover cybercrime losses for a business by going through the kidnapping and ransom coverage offered by its insurance company.
To help companies recover from cyberattacks, Goodman-Gable-Gould/AI was recently hired to help a national textile retailer that was hacked during the Christmas holidays while understaffed, Goodman said.
In addition to shutting down the entire company network, hackers also paralyzed the telephone system. The company was temporarily unable to process orders or make payments to suppliers. The ransom, software, hardware, and business revenue losses amounted to eight figures. He said after the team hired GGG/AI, the loss was recouped in less than eight months.
This customer is not a rare example. Although more organizations are prioritizing ways to secure data, more than 80% of organizations surveyed by Cyber Security Magazine reported an increase in cyberattacks in 2020.
“Goodman-Gable-Gould/AI works on behalf of businesses and individuals, both mitigating losses and securing benefits due from the insurance company,” Goodman said. “As cyberattacks become more prevalent, we remain agile to help our customers get the money they’re entitled to in the event of a disaster.”
This article was created in collaboration between Goodman-Gable-Gould and Studio B. Bisnow News staff were not involved in the creation of this content.
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