Cowbell is targeting businesses with up to £1 billion in turnover with its cyber insurance offering. To date, it has focused on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The move comes just six months after Cowbell entered the UK cyber insurance market.
Simon Hughes, VP and General Manager for Cowbell UK, commented, “Our decision to expand cybersecurity coverage to companies with an annual turnover of up to £1 billion stems from the demand for advanced cybersecurity solutions we’ve observed in the mid-market segment, where the traditional InsurTech offerings often fall short.
“As cyber attacks increase year-after-year, both in the UK and globally, business owners are often left guessing how to better protect their businesses against these pressing threats.”
Who are Cowbell, and what are they offering?
Cowbell is a US insurer with offices in Canada, India and the UK. It boasts an impressive number of venture and growth investors and is backed by A+ rated (re)insurers. The company says it “harnesses technology, data and AI to provide SMEs with advanced warning of cyber risk and customized cyber insurance adaptable to the threats of today and tomorrow.”
It sells its cyber insurance under the Cowbell Prime brand. The website shows three different offerings available at the moment. This move will see it as providing cyber insurance to 99% of all UK companies.
The company does not sell direct but through brokers. It says this allows brokers to “customise robust cyber policies for unique risk exposures, covering diverse cyber incidents, including email scams, ransomware, and social engineering.”
Importantly, it has its own risk-rating technology for which it has obtained a patent. That allows it to deliver brokers with the best possible view of those they are selling to. It claims that this is something that other cyber insurers do not offer. For brokers and Cowbell, that should limit the risk from the client they take on.
It shares some of that risk data with customers through the Cowbell Insights feature. However, how much it shares during the sales process is less clear. One of the challenges for many organisations is understanding the risk a cyber-attack brings. If Cowbell and its brokers can provide greater insight as part of the cyber insurance process, that is good news.
For many SMEs, engaging with a cyber insurance provider and getting an understanding of risk will give them an insight into their IT they don’t have. This is where the Cowbell AI-enabled components may help because they provide real-time recommendations to mitigate cyber risk.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
Cyber insurance is a rapidly growing market. Done well, it will help organisations become more resilient and reduce the risk of a cyber-attack. When one does occur, and it would be foolish to think it won’t, a properly designed policy will cover not just the direct costs of getting the business back up and running but all the ancillary costs, such as reputational damage.
One challenge that organisations need to be aware of is how bespoke cyber insurance and their existing business insurance work together. Where do they overlap? Where do they differ? Does having multiple insurance policies create gaps? Which policy is the primary one when something happens? Which insurer will take charge of helping the company recover from a cyber-attack?
These are issues that many organisations face, and it would be interesting to see how many brokers sell Cowbell alongside other business insurances. Importantly, how many dovetail policies from different insurers together?
What is important here is that the cyber insurance market in the UK is alive and growing fast, something that Cowbell acknowledges in its announcement.
