AIG Unleashes New Primary Cyber Policy for Property/Liability Exposures

AIG rolled out a new standalone cyber policy that provides primary insurance protection for a wide range of related risks.

The insurance giant is marketing CyberEdge Plus as offering primary protection for property damage, bodily injury, business interruption, product liability and a number of other cyber risks.

What is envisioned here is to combine cyber insurance and risk mitigation offerings, with traditional coverage concepts informing its cyber approach. AIG said that the blend gives customers “knowledge, data and experience developed over decades of underwriting, evaluating and mitigating property, casualty and financial line risks.” AIG also touts the product as the first primary coverage written in a standalone policy designed to address cyber exposures such as property damage, bodily injury and business interruption.

Property/casualty insurers consider cyber to be a fast-evolving risk. They have worked hard to adapt, however, with companies including OneBeacon, Liberty Mutual and The Hanover launching new cyber policies targeting specific areas.

Kevin Kalinich, global practice leader, cyber insurance for Aon Risk Solutions, said that the insurance industry “has done a reasonable job of addressing personally identifiable information related to cyber exposures, such as those faced by retail, financial institutions, healthcare and hospitality.”

And it makes sense, he said, to target cyber coverage on basic areas such as bodily injury, property damage and business interruption.

“As nearly every organization in every industry embraces technology, cyber exposures arise in new areas that can result in bodily injury, tangible property damage and business interruption,” Kalinich said.

He added that AIG previously tried to address these new exposures “via a drop down difference in conditions structure, which sits above existing property, general liability, crime, professional liability, etc…”

With this in mind, Kalinich said that AIG’s new CyberEdge Plus product is a change, because it helps make clear “that the policy is primary coverage with respect to cyber perils, including broader coverage in terms of tangible damages.”

Kalinich added that Aon has worked with carriers including AIG to develop “a number of innovative cyber insurance and services solutions across multiple lines of business, industries, geographies and size of business.”