18 June 2019Actuarial & underwriting

Captives obscure cyber growth picture


Demand for cyber insurance continued to grow in 2018, but it remains unclear exactly how big the market is due to a lack of data from captives.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has tracked the growth of the cyber insurance industry since 2015, by asking insurers to report business to the Cybersecurity and Identity Theft Insurance Coverage Supplement.

But given that a number of organisations obtain cyber coverage through their own captive insurers, which have fewer filing requirements and do not file the cyber supplement, it is impossible to accurately measure the growth of cyber insurance, said AM Best, the rating agency.

From the data that is available, provided by the 524 insurance companies that have participated in the survey, cyber premium volume eclipsed $2 billion, more than double the amount in 2015. Meanwhile, direct premiums written grew 12.6 percent for both standalone and packaged policies.

However, NAIC figures also showed growth had slowed relative to the last two years.

The total number of claims increased 39 percent year over year, exceeding 10 million for the first time in 2018.

Chubb INA Group was the top cyber insurer in 2018, with $325.8 million in cyber direct premiums written, the majority of them packaged policies. Hartford Insurance Group held the most cyber policies in force at year-end, with more than 500,000.

Cyber insurance growth is being driven by organisations wanting to minimise cyber and reputational risk, and protect their balance sheets and bottom lines, as well as by stricter regulatory environments, said AM Best.


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