Leeds-based UK General Insurance has today unveiled a new
personal cyber protection product, which it says is aimed at ‘the
man and woman on the street.’
Developed in partnership with the MGA’s capacity partner,
Munich Re, the offering is a departure for the cyber insurance
market which has been predominantly focused on corporations
and mid to high net worth clients.
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The rise of smartphones and social media and the continual
advancement of technology has led to a significant increase in
cybercrime and cyberbullying, UK General’s chief commercial
officer, Matthew Schofield said.
“It’s a rapidly growing area and it’s a product that’s in response to
that,” Schofield said. “Our cyber product is a first in the personal
lines market offering protection against certain forms of
cybercrime affecting ordinary people every day. These crimes
typically include online fraud, hacking and cyber bullying.”
The cyberbullying component of the product will see
policyholders covered for having a specialist service provider
remove online material, such as images or defamatory
information. The recovery of insured data is also covered.
“Once [the information] is out there it’s typically very difficult to
pull back, but the technology that we use can actually pull that
back quite quickly and quite easily,” Schofield said.
As well as covering online sales and shopping fraud,
policyholders are offered protection for the online theft of
personal funds – which is becoming more common as phishing
emails become harder to spot.
“As cybercrime gets more and more sophisticated, people are
being duped into giving away their card details…these are now
very sophisticated emails that you do have to stop and think
twice about when you see them,” Schofield said.
“If you do give them your card details, your bank won’t cover
you because you’ve given away your details. That’s when our
product will respond.”
Alongside significant intelligence from Munich Re, the product
was developed with the input of a focus group of brokers –
resulting in a “bespoke” product that will be distributed by
brokers as an add-on or stand alone.
In the future, there are plans to add extra coverage around the
IoT (internet of things) as smart home technology continues to
grow in popularity, and Schofield predicts that the wider personal
cyber market will expand rapidly in the coming years.
“This is an exciting opportunity for UK General that addresses a
growing customer need,” he said. “We’re responding with an
innovative solution and believe there will be high demand for this
form of protection.”
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