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These days, with most of us stuck at home and doing the majority of shopping and banking online, the risk of cyber criminals hacking into our networks to get to our bank accounts and/or personal information is greater than ever. While we have made considerable advances in cyber-security, so have the cyber criminals which is one of the reasons we are starting to see insurance policies that protect personal information in the event of a breach.
The market for this type of insurance is still new, but it can be quite inexpensive to add cyber protection to homeowner’s policy if the insurer who wrote the policy provides it.
While every policy is different, and there is no standard, there are a few generally agreed upon endorsements that can benefit any concerned homeowner:
- Cyber Financial Loss Endorsement – Adding this to a policy will ensure a policy holder will be reimbursed for fraudulent charges, stolen account funds, or loss of salary.
- Cyber Personal Protection Endorsement –Covers all breaches of privacy, cyber bullying and cyber disruption.
- Cyber Extortion Endorsement – Covers cyber-attacks involving threats to release personal information, ransomware attacks and failure of personal computer networks.
- Data Restoration Endorsement – Covers expenses incurred by a service provider in recovering lost data after a cyber attack or extortion.
- Fraud Endorsement – This covers the cost of identity theft or unauthorized use of bank cards perpetrated through a qualifying home electronic device.
A homeowner must be proactive and do everything they can to try to prevent someone stealing their most valuable commodity – personal information. If, despite all of their best efforts, a personal cyber breach occurs understanding what is covered by a homeowner’s policy or having personal Cyber insurance in place might be a good way to minimize the damage.
If you need more information on any of the topics covered in this blog, or need help with any risk related issues please contact Albert Sica, Managing Principal, at 732.395.4251 or asica@thealsgroup.com.