This page explains how cyber insurance is built up and which choices you make within it. The sector pages set out what that means for a specific industry.
The calculator and the quote form below are in Dutch. Prefer to do this in English? Email info@finassverzekert. nl or call 072 - 509 24 56 and we will take it from there.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
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We compare the offerings of several insurers
An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Cyber insurance consists of three blocks that you have to assess separately. The first is incident response: a reporting number, forensic investigation and specialists who establish what has happened. The second is your own loss: restoring systems and files, and the turnover you lose while you are down. The third is liability towards customers and individuals whose data has leaked, together with the costs of the duty to report. Each block has its own limit and sometimes its own excess.
Which block weighs heavily for you depends on your business model, not on your size. If your turnover runs on systems that are switched on, as at a hospitality business or a webshop, the interruption cover and above all the waiting period are decisive. If you hold a lot of data, or sensitive data, belonging to others, as at an pharmacy or a HR agency, the costs lie in investigation, notification and liability. If you supply digital services yourself, supply chain liability is added.
Two misunderstandings come up again and again. The first is that business interruption insurance does something here: usually it requires physical damage to property, and digital downtime without fire or burglary does not meet that. The second is that the insurer takes over your security. The opposite is true: in the application you set out your measures, and those become part of the contract. Incorrect answers affect the duty of disclosure under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code and the consequences of this in Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Immediate help
Incident response
Specialists who look into it within hours.
24/7 reporting line
Forensic investigation
Recovery and restart
Your business
Own damage
What the incident costs you yourself.
Data recovery and reconstruction
Business downtime
Ransom under consideration
Towards third parties
Liability
Claims from customers and data subjects.
Claims after a data breach
GDPR notification costs
Legal assistance
What is covered
Situation
Cyber
AVB
BAV
Ransomware brings your systems down
Yes
No
No
Data breach involving personal data
Yes
No
Sometimes
Costs of notification and informing those affected
Yes
No
No
Fraud through a falsified payment instruction
Sometimes
No
No
Administrative fine from the regulator
No
No
No
Hardware that is physically damaged
No
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
The waiting period decides whether interruption cover delivers anything
The interruption cover only starts running after an agreed number of hours and stops after an agreed period. A business that is back up after eight hours gains nothing from a twenty-four-hour waiting period, while an organisation that spends weeks on recovery should be looking at the indemnity period instead. First work out how long you can manage without systems, and only then choose the limit.
Your suppliers are part of your risk
Much downtime starts not with you but with a software package, a hosting provider or an administrator who looks in remotely. Check whether the policy also pays out if the cause lies with a supplier and not in your own network, because that is not a given. Also set out in the contract the period within which that party must inform you; suppliers' terms usually limit their own liability to part of the subscription.
Fraud and hacking are two different covers
With a forged invoice or an imitated payment instruction there has been no break-in. A payment has been made. That falls under social engineering and sits in a separate module with its own, usually lower limit and often a condition about your payment procedure. Ask explicitly in every quote whether this module is included, because the premiums of policies with and without it are not comparable.
What falls outside the cover
Not covered are administrative fines of a punitive nature, improving or renewing your security after an incident, and physical damage to equipment, which belongs on the business contents insurance. Also excluded are contractual penalties you have agreed yourself, damage caused by acts of war or state actors, and intent or wilful recklessness under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code are not included.
What does your premium depend on?
Annual turnover. At almost every insurer, turnover is the basis on which the premium is built up.
Sector. Sectors that process sensitive data or are attacked deliberately are rated more heavily.
Number of records containing personal data. Determines the costs of investigation and notification, the items that rise fastest after a breach.
Dependence on systems. How quickly work stops when systems fail determines the waiting period and indemnity period you need.
Security level. Multi-factor authentication, tested back-ups and an update policy are a condition and a premium factor at the same time.
Limit and excess. Each block may have its own limit; compare policies per component and not on the total price.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your activities, turnover and wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Does business interruption insurance pay out after a hack?
As a rule, no. That cover requires physical damage to insured property as the cause of the interruption, such as fire or water damage. With ransomware there is no physical damage, so the interruption falls outside it. The interruption cover on a cyber insurance policy is made precisely for this scenario and has its own waiting period.
We are small and hold little customer data. Is this necessary?
That depends on your dependence, not on your size. Even without large data sets, your work stops if the systems are encrypted, and the duty to report a breach applies regardless of company size. For small organisations, access to specialists is often more valuable than the level of the sum insured.
What security does the insurer require?
Usually multi-factor authentication on email and on access from outside, up-to-date patching, and back-ups that are kept disconnected and have demonstrably been restored. These points appear as conditions in the policy. If they are not met at the time of the incident, the insurer may reduce or refuse the payout.
Does the insurer pay a ransom after a ransomware attack?
Only if an extortion module is included, and then only after consultation and prior consent. Conditions apply under sanctions legislation and the insurer first brings in investigators and negotiators. Payment also gives no certainty that you will get your data back. A disconnected and tested back-up remains the most reliable way out.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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