Specialty Insurance Blog

The Target Data Breach – Changing Cyber Risk Insurance

In addition to gaining massive media attention, the Target data breach is also changing the nature of Cyber Risk Insurance. Key changes, discussed below in more detail: Risk Management works – this could have been prevented Liability coverage in a Cyber Risk Insurance is now critical Underwriters will accelerate their review of their own offerings – underwriting, policy forms and pricing – and the market will tighten Most companies will buy Cyber Risk Insurance Smaller organizations will closely review the coverage they have – is it adequate? The data breach itself is fascinating – see here at BloombergBusinessweek and here at KrebsonSecurity for specific accounts of what happened. It shows that risk management works – this breach could have been... Read more →

Data Breach Report: Cyber Risks Continue to Increase

Verizon has just released its 2014 Data Breach Investigations Report, and anyone interested in Cyber Risk and Cyber Risk Insurance should check it out. Also see an excellent summary article from Re/Code here. Key points: 2013 is going to go down as something of a watershed year…It was a year when computer security incidents became something that mainstream people worried about a lot The number of overall attacks is on the rise [The report identifies] nine patterns that together describe 92% of the confirmed data breaches Attempts to steal intellectual property rose…There were two basic motivations: Sell the data to a competitor, or start a competitive company In more than 70% of the IP theft cases, insiders stole the information... Read more →

Program Managers Need to Be Licensed

A recent bulletin from the Excess Lines Association of NY (ELANY) notes that a program manager underwriting on behalf of an excess lines insurer must be licensed as an excess lines broker. Program manager also means cover holder, managing general agent or program administrator. Of note – the bulletin also notes: Excess line brokers owe their duty to the insured not the insurer under New York law. Tennant Risk Services is a specialty wholesale broker and underwriting manager, and delivers expertise, markets and exemplary services to our retail insurance agent clients in the placement of professional liability insurance (E&O, D&O, EPL, Cyber). Specialty Insurance Expertise: Tennant Risk Services Supporting Insurance Entrepreneurship: Tennant Capital Partners Read more →

Side A D&O Insurance

D&O insurance (Directors & Officers) policy forms have evolved dramatically over the last decade or so, and now typically include a variety of coverage extensions. For private companies and non-profit entities EPL is an obvious example – something we take for granted today. Entity coverage is another example, and one that is not always helpful. In certain extreme situations entity coverage can deplete limits rapidly, leaving no coverage for individual directors and officers. Side A D&O insurance coverage, also called Side A Excess or Side A DIC, has become a mainstream insurance product ensuring that the private assets of the directors and officers are protected in the event that the organization’s D&O insurance policy is not available. Bankruptcy is an... Read more →