Pen Underwriting, a multi-class, multi-territory managing general agent (MGA), has introduced six significant updates to its UK SME cyber insurance offering, reinforcing its commitment to evolving coverage in line with emerging risks and helping businesses respond effectively to cyber incidents.
The latest enhancements are designed to ease the immediate financial and operational pressures on businesses facing cyber extortion, while addressing changes in the frequency and duration of claims.
By removing sub-limits, extending restoration timelines, and ensuring access to funds is not a barrier to prompt action, the updated coverage better reflects the practical realities of today’s cyber threat environment.
These changes build on substantial improvements made last year, when Pen expanded its SME cyber proposition for UK businesses with revenues up to £600 million.
At that time, more than 20 areas of core, additional, and crime coverage were added, including the introduction of an ‘Any One Claim’ limit. This feature ensures that multiple cyber events occurring within a 12-month period can each access the full policy limit.
Under the new updates, Pen now allows cyber insurance professionals to step in during extortion incidents to manage payments and provide immediate support, relieving businesses from the stress and upfront financial burden. The restoration period for interrupted systems has been extended from 180 to 365 days, reflecting the potential for longer recovery times as cybercriminals use increasingly sophisticated tactics.
Additional breach response costs are now covered outside the main policy limit, while hardware replacement and security upgrade costs are provided at full limit, removing previous sub-limits. Coverage for voluntary or regulatory shutdowns has also been expanded to full-limit protection, ensuring businesses can recover more effectively from system shutdowns without being constrained by sub-limits.
Together, these six enhancements ensure that Pen’s SME cyber insurance continues to provide comprehensive, practical protection for UK businesses, helping them respond quickly and minimise disruption when cyber incidents occur.
Ian Summerfield, Managing Director of International Cyber, D&O and PI at Pen Underwriting, said: “We don’t make coverage changes lightly. Our process of continual review, adjustment and improvement is aimed at ensuring customers have access to the most relevant and most responsive cyber policy possible – whatever type of cyber incident they may ultimately find themselves subjected to.
“These latest changes represent important and material enhancements, making it even more compelling for brokers to recommend Pen’s cyber insurance to their clients in a fast-moving competitive market. Take our “pay on behalf” language. In the event of a cyber extortion event, this enables us to facilitate the payment of a ransom while also navigating the alien world of cryptocurrency on behalf of the impacted insured business – an invaluable service alongside the wider benefit of not having to find funds upfront to cover fees and expenses.
“Cyber risk never stands still, so we won’t either. Few, if any, areas of business risk are evolving as quickly as cyber and every coverage enhancement we introduce responds directly to challenges, changes or complexities that UK businesses are facing.”
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