How to protect yourself from ‘bizarre’ home insurance policies in the age of cyber attacks
With more than half of all homeowners insurance policies canceled due to cyber attacks, it’s no wonder many Americans are wondering whether they need to upgrade their policy to cover a hacker’s attacks.
According to a new report from insurance provider H&M, the vast majority of homeowners insurance plans are “unwisely” taking a cybersecurity risk when it comes to their insurance, and even more are not properly understanding what cyber attacks can do.
In the past year alone, there have been at least three reported cyberattacks that breached insurance companies’ systems, forcing them to suspend coverage and even cancel their policies, according to H&s data.
It’s not the first time a cyber attack has forced insurers to suspend policies, but this is the first instance that insurers are actively canceling policies due to cybersecurity risk.
As of March, there were more than 11 million U.S. homeowners who are not covered by homeowner’s insurance, according the Insurance Information Institute.
In Texas, the state with the highest number of homeowners insured without coverage, there are over 14 million uninsured, according an August report from the Institute.
Many homeowners have no idea what cyberattacks can and can’t do, said John Wahlquist, CEO of the H&ing Group.
“You have insurance policies that say they’re insured for cyberattack, but you don’t really know what that means,” he said.
“I think people just think, ‘Oh, this is all the fault of the company,'” he said of homeowners.
“They think that’s the end of it.
But this is not an end of the world.
It just means that insurance companies need to be more proactive.”
H&ers is the third insurance company to report this year that they are having to cancel policies due for cybersecurity risk, following other insurance providers, like Home Insurance.
H&ams report was released Thursday, and was released as the cybersecurity threat to homeowners increased.
The report also revealed that while cybersecurity threats to insurance companies have been increasing over the past few years, they have been decreasing since the financial crisis of 2008.
The report shows that, as a result, the number of insurers canceling plans due to the risk of cybersecurity has increased.
In 2018, there was a total of 4,854 insurance policies with cybersecurity risk that H&s had to cancel.
Of those 4,855, 523 were cancelled due to insurance company cybersecurity risk (the remaining 3,811 were cancelled by H&ammos insurance policies).
This decrease of cybersecurity claims by insurers was not enough to offset the growth in claims for cyber attacks to insurance policies, the report found.
The H&am group, which also sells home insurance and commercial insurance through the H &ers network, is working with insurance companies to develop cybersecurity policies that will protect insurers from cybersecurity threats.
The group’s cybersecurity policy, called Cyber Security for Homes, is available for free on its website.
“As homeowners, we are in an untenable position,” said John G. Wahlner, CEO, H&ammers Group.
“”This has been a trend that we’ve seen for quite some time now, where insurance companies are making cybersecurity policies more difficult to access because they are not as well understood.
“In addition to the increased cybersecurity risk for insurers, there has also been an increase in the amount of personal data that is being stored on insurance companies, which is a growing concern, according TOI.
“It’s a good start to making the system safer.””
In addition, a number of states are introducing legislation that would require insurance companies and other insurance vendors to publicly disclose their data collection, use and disclosure practices to the public,” said TOI’s Mary Schmitt.
“It’s a good start to making the system safer.”
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a trade association representing the largest insurance industry organizations, recently released a report on cybersecurity that recommended greater regulation for insurance companies.
This week, the National Insurance Commission also released a cybersecurity report that found insurers were failing to meet cybersecurity standards.
“We know that consumers have to trust the insurance companies they purchase,” said Robert P. Schulkin, the chair of the NIC, in a statement.
“The cybersecurity risk to homeowners and other Americans must be taken seriously.
The NIC and its members are committed to creating policies that help ensure that consumers feel safe when they use insurance.”
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