Beazley has joined forces with Lloyd’s syndicates managed by Aspen and Brit Global Specialty to launch the International Cyber Consortium.

The consortium will focus on providing robust data breach cover to businesses domiciled outside the United States with revenues in excess of $5 billion. Writing business on both a primary and an excess basis, the consortium will bring additional premium capacity of up to $60 million to this market.

The International Cyber Consortium will offer cover to companies across all industries. The security underpinning the consortium’s policies will be 100 percent Lloyd’s, with Beazley as consortium manager and leading on claims handling, Beazley said in a statement to announce the venture.

The shares of individual risks allocated to individual consortium members will vary in line with the members’ underwriting appetite, the company said, noting that business will be serviced in local languages, with policy forms to be available in multiple languages.

“The sequence of high profile data breaches that we have seen at U.S. retailers, banks and healthcare institutions has underlined the need for robust insurance cover,” said Paul Bantick, head of London and international business for Beazley’s technology, media and business services focus group.

“Businesses outside the United States are rapidly discovering what U.S. businesses and their customers have known for some years: that a data breach is not a matter of if, but when,” he added. “Businesses outside the U.S. hold just as much personal data in trust for their customers and the reputational consequences of a data breach can be severe.”

Tom Allen, head of Technology Liability & Data Protection Indemnity at Aspen Insurance, said: “The Lloyd’s market has historically been at the forefront of innovation in global insurance and reinsurance and the market has continued to play this role in addressing one of the fastest growing risks of the 21st century – data breaches. We are delighted to participate in this important initiative to strengthen further Lloyd’s pivotal role in this market.”

Ben Maidment, class underwriter of Global Cyber, Privacy & Technology at Brit Global Specialty, said: “Through the consortium we are empowering Lloyd’s brokers to offer insurance that is competitive with what companies may be able to obtain in their local markets, backed by Lloyd’s unrivaled intellectual capital and a claims service that we believe to be superior. The members of the consortium have helped well over 2000 businesses successfully manage data breaches and their potentially damaging repercussions.”

Source: Beazley