Cyber insurance has changed – but what does that mean for brokers?
- rrelentless
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
At rrelentless, we are rethinking risk and redesigning insurance, with a fundamentally proactive approach to risk management. Our Cyber Insurance policy has been designed to help policyholders recover as quickly as possible. However, we believe it is better to reduce the likelihood of issues, and to make preparations to reduce their impact.
With prevention often the best protection, our cyber insurance policy includes access to rradar’s services, people, legally privileged advice, and risk management tools. All designed and delivered by rradar’s cyber and data experts to help policyholders navigate the risks they face, as included as standard, as part of this cyber insurance policy.
In this article, we explore the changing cyber insurance market and what that can mean for our broker partners.
Changes in the cyber insurance marketplace
For many years, cyber insurance discussions centred on headline‑grabbing scenarios: ransomware, mass data breaches and complete system shutdowns. Those risks still exist, but the reality of cyber claims in 2026 looks markedly different from even two or three years ago.
Across underwriting, claims and broker conversations, we are seeing cyber losses become more subtle, more persistent and often far more commercially disruptive. Claims are increasingly regulatory‑driven, people‑led and process‑based, and they frequently begin long before anyone would label the situation a “breach”.
For brokers, this shift matters. Cyber insurance can no longer sit as an ancillary cover or a transactional upsell. It is now a core component of a client’s risk framework, influencing everything from trading relationships and supplier contracts to regulatory confidence and business continuity.
Insurance, therefore, is no longer something clients only rely on at the point of loss. It must give them confidence much earlier, when uncertainty sets in and decisions carry real consequence.
What has driven the change?
One of the most significant changes is where cyber claims now begin.
While ransomware continues to attract attention, market experience shows that it is no longer the dominant driver of claims frequency. Underwriting insight aligns with what claims teams are seeing on the ground: a material rise in cyber-crime losses, particularly business email compromise and man‑in‑the‑middle attacks.
In these scenarios, attackers gain access to email accounts through phishing or stolen credentials and remain undetected for prolonged periods. They monitor correspondence, learn payment patterns and subtly intercept or amend bank instructions. Funds are diverted without triggering immediate suspicion, often leaving businesses with immediate and unrecoverable financial loss.
At the same time, when ransomware events do occur, they increasingly lead to wider and more complex business interruption losses. There is also a clear trend towards threat actors exploiting common technologies or service providers, allowing a single vulnerability to be leveraged across multiple organisations.
Alongside this, many real‑world claims no longer stem from a single defining event. Instead, they develop through:
Missed or delayed responses to early warning signs
Regulatory engagement before a breach is formally recognised
Operational disruption caused by third‑party suppliers
Human error, misconfiguration or unclear internal ownership
Costs often accumulate in legal advice, regulatory handling and response management, rather than purely in technical remediation.
Non‑technical entry points are now the norm
A growing proportion of cyber incidents do not begin with a technical failure at all. They begin with people, processes and governance.
Across underwriting and claims experience, many of today’s loss scenarios hinge on everyday business practices:
Phishing and credential theft allowing inbox access
Poor email security or lack of multi‑factor authentication
Weak financial controls, such as single‑step payment approvals
Delayed escalation because ownership is unclear
In many cases, systems behave exactly as designed. The issue lies in how staff interpret warning signs, how quickly concerns are escalated and whether controls are strong enough to challenge trusted communications.
This also highlights a lingering misconception: that cyber insurance is primarily reactive. Modern cyber programmes are increasingly designed to support early engagement, providing legal, regulatory and incident response guidance before a loss has fully crystallised.
Assumptions that no longer hold
Several legacy views continue to complicate conversations and limit the effectiveness of cyber placements.
Cyber is still sometimes discussed alongside PI or MLP, with an expectation of overlapping triggers. In reality, cyber claims follow different trajectories, often involving earlier engagement and a wider set of operational and regulatory considerations.
There is also a persistent belief, particularly among SMEs, that cyber losses predominantly affect large organisations through major ransomware events. Market experience continues to challenge this view. Many recent claims involve cyber‑enabled fraud rather than system encryption.
Common assumptions still surface:
“We would notice if our email was compromised.” Often untrue. Access can go undetected for weeks
“Finance teams would spot fraudulent payments.” Without robust controls, manipulated instructions frequently appear legitimate
These assumptions expose businesses to risk long before insurance is engaged.
So where do cyber claims really start?
Increasingly, claims begin with:
Compromised email accounts
Intercepted supplier or client communications
Small, plausible changes to bank details or invoices
Internal uncertainty about whether an issue constitutes an incident
The claim does not start when money leaves the account or when systems are taken offline. It starts when access is gained and trust is exploited. By the time a formal notification is made, commercial, reputational and regulatory pressures may already be building.
Beyond policy wording
Policy wording remains important, but it is no longer the primary differentiator brokers should rely on.
What clients increasingly value is:
Early access to experienced advice
Clear, practical guidance during uncertain situations
Regulatory and legal support from the outset
Confidence that they are not navigating grey areas alone
Preparedness plays a significant role in outcomes. Independent verification of bank detail changes, known‑contact call‑back procedures, dual payment approvals and clear escalation responsibilities are consistently among the most effective loss‑prevention measures.
Policies respond but claims outcomes are often shaped well before an incident occurs by the strength of governance, controls and response readiness.
What this means for brokers
Cyber insurance has matured, and the broker’s role has matured alongside it.
The brokers who succeed are those who:
Treat cyber as a core advisory product, not an add‑on
Can explain response, support and outcomes, not just cover
Bring underwriters into discussions early to build confidence
Recognise that judgement, dialogue and experience still matter
Cyber insurance today is as much about protecting cash flow and operational continuity as it is about systems or data. For many UK SMEs, the most immediate threat is not downtime. It is money quietly leaving the business.
Join the conversation at BIBA 2026
The Countdown to BIBA is just the beginning. BIBA is where these conversations continue.
Visit us at Stand A40 at BIBA 2026 to meet the teams behind the thinking, underwriting, claims experience and partnerships.
Prefer to plan ahead? Book time with our BD team by emailing hello@rrelentless.com.
Or drop by on the day for an open, practical discussion about appetite, risk and growth. Follow the countdown. Bring your questions.
