Emergence Insurance claims 'first' with group personal cyber insurance

Emergence Insurance claims ‘first’ with group personal cyber insurance | Insurance Business Australia

Cyber

Emergence Insurance claims ‘first’ with group personal cyber insurance

Employee benefit covers cyber events that affect an insured’s home IT

Cyber

By
Roxanne Libatique

Emergence Insurance (Emergence) has claimed an Australian “first” with the launch of its group personal cyber insurance, which employers of any size can offer as an employee benefit for team members.

The offering covers employees and their family members. It could cost less than $1 weekly per employee and has no excess, according to Emergence.

Emergence’s group personal cyber policy provides cover up to $20,000 for each insured person for cyber events that could affect their home IT, including malware, cyber espionage, cyber extortion (ransomware), denial of service attacks, and hacking.

The cover also includes cyber event response costs such as credit and ID monitoring and the costs of cyber extortion, data restoration, legal, notification, technical management, and virus extraction. Additionally, it provides access to 24/7 incident response hotline and cyber breach experts.

“Employers are seeking innovative employee benefits as they aim to retain and reward staff in the current low unemployment environment,” said Emergence chief operating officer Colin Pausey.

“The product is available for all sized businesses, from micro and SME to large corporates, and affinity schemes, industry bodies, and associations for their members. If brokers have other clients for whom the policy is applicable, let’s talk.”

Emergence Insurance group personal cyber cover a ‘first’ for Australia, says CEO

Emergence founder and chief executive officer Troy Filipcevic said the group personal cyber insurance is an Australian first and builds on the personal cyber insurance wording the company has offered as a standalone product for individuals and families since 2020.

“Families’ internet usage occurs daily, and the more smart devices a household uses, the greater their vulnerability. The pandemic supercharged online shopping, and that has continued,” Filipcevic said. “We use digital technology to find efficiencies and communicate, but criminals also use the technology to scam people and steal their identities.

“We safeguard physical assets by locking doors and keeping our wallets secure. But what about access to digital assets? ID theft and online scams are rife in the Australian community.”