What is Cyber Insurance?
Cyber insurance is a specialist form of business insurance that protects organisations against the financial losses and legal liabilities arising from digital threats. Unlike traditional commercial insurance policies, cyber cover is designed to respond directly to the unique risks of operating in a connected world.
These risks include criminal attacks such as ransomware and phishing, accidental data loss caused by human error, system outages triggered by technical failure, and the regulatory consequences that follow a personal data breach.
Cyber insurance does not simply pay out after an incident. A quality cyber policy provides access to a team of specialists including incident response professionals, forensic investigators, legal advisers, and public relations consultants who work alongside your business from the moment an incident is reported.
The Scale of Cyber Risk in the United Kingdom
The threat facing UK businesses is significant and growing. According to the UK Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey, more than half of UK businesses experienced a cyber security breach or attack in the past twelve months. The average cost of a single cyber incident for a medium-sized business now runs into the tens of thousands of pounds, and for larger organisations the figure can be far greater when regulatory fines, legal costs, and business interruption losses are taken into account.
Small and medium-sized enterprises are increasingly targeted precisely because they often lack the dedicated cyber security resources of larger corporations. Cyber criminals recognise this vulnerability and exploit it. No business is too small to be at risk.
Why Nova Insurance for cyber insurance?
Specialist Expertise
Our cyber underwriters have deep expertise in digital risk. We understand the threat landscape facing UK businesses and structure our policies to respond to real-world scenarios, not hypothetical ones.
Rapid Claims Response
When a cyber incident occurs, speed is critical. Our claims team and incident response partners are on hand around the clock to ensure that your response begins within hours, not days.
Broad, Clear Policy Wording
We believe that insurance should be straightforward. Our policy wordings are written in plain English, clearly defining what is covered, what is excluded, and how the claims process works.
Flexible Cover Limits
We offer a range of cover limits to suit businesses of different sizes and risk profiles, from growing small businesses to established mid-market organisations. Our advisers will help you identify the level of cover that reflects your genuine exposure.
What Our Cyber Insurance Covers
Our cyber insurance policies are structured to provide broad protection across the full lifecycle of a cyber incident.
First Party Cover
First party cover protects your own business directly. This includes financial losses you sustain as a direct result of a cyber event.
Business Interruption Loss If a cyber attack or system failure prevents your business from trading, we cover the resulting loss of income and the additional costs you incur to restore operations. Cover continues for an agreed period following the incident to support your recovery.
Ransomware and Cyber Extortion If a criminal encrypts your systems and demands payment in exchange for restoring access, we cover the ransom payment where this is considered the most appropriate course of action by our incident response team, as well as the specialist negotiation costs involved.
Data Recovery and System Restoration We cover the reasonable and necessary costs of recovering, restoring, and replacing data and computer systems that have been corrupted, damaged, or destroyed as a result of a cyber event.
Cyber Crime and Social Engineering Fraud Losses arising from fraudulent electronic instructions that cause your business to transfer funds to a criminal, often through impersonation of a supplier, client, or senior employee, are covered under this section of your policy.
Crisis Management and Public Relations A cyber incident can damage your reputation as quickly as it damages your systems. We cover the reasonable costs of engaging specialist public relations advisers to manage communications and protect your brand during and after an incident.
Third Party Liability Cover
Third party cover protects you against claims brought by others as a result of a cyber incident affecting your business.
Data Breach Liability If personal or confidential data belonging to your clients, employees, or third parties is compromised, we cover your legal defence costs and any damages or settlements arising from claims made against you.
Regulatory Defence and Fines Following a personal data breach, the Information Commissioner’s Office has the power to impose significant financial penalties. We cover the costs of responding to regulatory investigations and, where insurable by law, contribute towards regulatory fines and penalties.
Network Security Liability If a failure of your network security causes harm to a third party, for example by transmitting a virus to a client or business partner, we cover the resulting legal liability.
Multimedia Liability If content published on your website or in digital communications gives rise to claims of defamation, intellectual property infringement, or invasion of privacy, this section responds on your behalf.
Incident Response: Support When It Matters Most
One of the most valuable elements of a Nova Insurance cyber policy is immediate access to our incident response service, available around the clock, every day of the year.
From the moment you report a cyber incident, our team coordinates a structured response on your behalf.
Step One: Notification You contact our dedicated cyber claims line at any hour of the day or night. Our team begins assessing the situation immediately and assigns the right specialists to your case.
Step Two: Forensic Investigation Specialist IT forensic investigators work to identify the source and scope of the incident, contain the damage, and preserve evidence that may be required for legal or regulatory proceedings.
Step Three: Legal Guidance Specialist cyber lawyers advise you on your obligations under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, including whether and how to notify the Information Commissioner’s Office and affected individuals.
Step Four: Regulatory Liaison Where required, we support you through any engagement with the ICO or other relevant regulatory bodies, managing communications and preparing your formal response.
Step Five: Recovery and Restoration Technical specialists work to restore your systems and data, while our team manages any third party claims, public relations requirements, and business interruption losses running in parallel.
Who Needs Cyber Insurance?
Cyber insurance is relevant to any business that stores personal data, relies on digital systems to operate, transacts online, or communicates electronically with clients and suppliers. In practical terms, this means the vast majority of trading organisations in the United Kingdom today.
Our policies are particularly well suited to the following sectors:
Professional Services Law firms, accountancy practices, management consultancies, and financial advisers hold significant volumes of sensitive client data and face heightened exposure to both cyber crime and regulatory action.
Healthcare and Life Sciences Organisations handling patient data or medical records face some of the most stringent data protection obligations and the most severe consequences of a breach.
Retail and E-commerce Businesses that process card payments or hold customer account information face ongoing threats from payment card fraud and data theft.
Technology and Software Technology businesses and software developers may face liability if their products or services contribute to a cyber incident affecting a client.
Education Schools, colleges, and universities hold extensive personal data relating to pupils, students, and staff, and are frequently targeted by ransomware attacks.
Financial Services The financial sector is among the most heavily targeted by cyber criminals, and faces rigorous regulatory expectations around data security and incident reporting.
Manufacturing and Engineering Operational technology and industrial control systems are increasingly connected and increasingly vulnerable to interference from malicious actors.
