Travelers has added a new endorsement to California home and landlord policies meant to help counter wildfire risks. Aspen Insurance debuted its new cyber risk management platform.

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The Travelers Companies Inc. will now include a Wildfire Defense Services endorsement in all California home and landlord policies.

The endorsement, included at no additional cost to the policyholder, helps provide an added layer of wildfire protection for customers. Travelers is working with Wildfire Defense Systems (WDS), a private firm that specializes in wildfire mitigation, to help provide loss prevention services such as reducing potential fuel sources, taping vents and applying fire retardants.

WDS uses proprietary forecasting and threat analysis to identify Travelers customers who could be impacted by a wildfire and then uses other resources to take preventive measures, if possible. WDS’ services supplement those of local emergency personnel who are deployed before, during and after active wildfires. In an emergency, WDS works to provide services to as many homes as possible based on a variety of factors, including resources, weather conditions, the fire’s proximity and the company’s safety guidelines.

The Wildfire Defense Services endorsement is subject to policy terms and does not apply to customers that have fire coverage through the California FAIR Plan or a Difference in Conditions endorsement with Travelers.

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Aspen Insurance debuted its cyber risk management platform, dubbed SSIMPLE.

The platform is designed to help clients in the prevention and detection of, and response to, privacy and network security incidents.

The SSIMPLE platform includes existing components of Aspen Insurance’s Apex insurance policy and incident response capabilities, with added and differentiating pre-incident services at no additional cost. Aspen’s cyber insurance clients will now benefit from this one-stop, holistic product.

Designed and managed by Aspen’s in-house Certified Information System Security Professionals (CISSPs), SSIMPLE combines secure systems and information management principles with the benefits of loss experience. Complexity is often a barrier to security, and SSIMPLE allows clients to leverage Aspen’s expertise for streamlined access to complimentary, third-party services including: a web-based portal to assess cybersecurity posture; Microsoft Office 365 security auditing to evaluate existing configuration, identify solutions and prioritize actions; external network scanning to identify security risks for clients and their third-party vendors; and 24/7 endpoint monitoring to identify malicious activity, perform related forensic analyses and accelerate incident response.

Sources: Travelers, Aspen Insurance