An estate agency does not hold the purchase price itself, but it does sit in the email exchange in which the account number for that purchase price goes round.
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In brief
An estate agent's file is unusually complete for a fraudster: under the Wwft (the Dutch anti-money laundering act) it holds identity documents and questions about the source of funds, alongside financial details, valuation data, addresses and the planning of the handover of keys. That is enough to write a convincing email to a buyer who has just arranged his finance.
The money runs through the notary's client account, but the email chain runs through you. If your mailbox is being read, the message with a changed account number is sent at exactly the right moment, in your house style and with the correct file details. The loss then falls on the client and the question becomes whether you observed the standard of care in Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code.
If you work with a notary's office or a mortgage adviser, the weakest link is usually the party least well set up against being read.
What does cyber insurance for estate agents cover?
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.
Wwft documents make a breach more serious than an address list
You keep copies of identity documents and records of client due diligence because the Wwft requires it. It is precisely that combination of passport details, marital status and financial position that makes a breach suitable for identity fraud, and with it the chance of claims from those concerned very real. So limit who in the office can reach that folder and delete what you no longer need to keep. Administrative fines and penalty payments imposed by regulators are not insurable; claims from those who suffer loss generally are.
Never verify a changed account number by email
In transaction fraud your system is not broken. Your correspondence is imitated. The counter-measure is procedural: confirm account numbers only by telephone on a number you already had, and warn buyers in writing at the outset that you never pass on a different number by email. Note that most cyber policies do not reimburse the sum transferred itself. Financial loss through deception is a separate cover that you have to include expressly.
Your files sit with a supplier, your obligation stays with you
Almost every office works in an estate agency package with links to property portals and exchange systems. If that package is down, you cannot arrange a viewing or open a file, but the fault lies with someone else. So check whether your policy includes an outage at a service provider and what waiting period applies to it; below that waiting period nothing is paid. Towards your client you remain the controller yourself, even if the breach arose at that supplier.
Keep the professional error separate from the security incident
If a client complains that you conducted a bidding process incorrectly or failed to disclose a defect, that is a professional error and not a cyber loss. The cyber policy starts with a security incident: email read by others, ransomware, a breach. The two policies exclude each other's territory, so a claim that falls between them almost always arises from a gap where they meet. Your own intent or wilful recklessness also stays outside the cover under Article 7:952 DCC.
What does your premium depend on?
Number of transactions per year. The number of moments at which payment instructions and identity documents pass through your mailbox determines the exposure.
Size of your Wwft archive. How many identity documents and client due diligence records you keep, and for how long, weighs more heavily than the number of staff.
Security of your email. Two-factor authentication on the email environment and checks on forwarding rules are the most important measure here.
Whether or not payment fraud is covered. Including financial loss after a forged payment instruction is a separate section that is rated more heavily.
Number of premises and home workplaces. More places from which the estate agency package is reached means more points of access to secure.
Dependence on your estate agency software. During an outage can you still show properties and view files, or does office production stop straight away?
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your 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.
A buyer transferred the purchase price to a false account number taken from my email. Is that covered?
The investigation, recovery and legal costs on your side generally fall under the policy, as does the claim the buyer brings against you. The amount transferred itself falls under the cover only if you have included financial loss through deception; as standard that is almost never the case. Ask about it expressly when getting a quote, because for estate agents this is the most expensive scenario.
I work entirely in the cloud. Do I still need cyber insurance?
Yes. Cloud software moves the risk. It does not remove it. One stolen password is enough for an attacker to reach your files and mailbox, and if your supplier has an outage your office is at a standstill with nothing you can do about it. What shifts is the emphasis: less data recovery on your own servers, more attention to access management and to the waiting period for supplier outages.
Are regulatory fines covered?
Administrative fines of a punitive nature, for example for inadequate client due diligence or a GDPR breach, are not insurable in the Netherlands. What is covered are the costs of making the report, informing those concerned, legal assistance during an investigation, and the claims for compensation that those affected bring against you. Where identity data is involved, the last of these is often the largest part of the bill.
What does the insurer expect from my office as a minimum?
Usually two-factor authentication on email and on the estate agency package, up-to-date patching, and back-ups that you have tested and that cannot be deleted from the same account. If you state those measures in the application, they are disclosures within the meaning of Article 7:928 DCC. If they are missing when a loss occurs, the insurer can reduce the payout under Article 7:930 DCC.
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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