American International Group said it is finalizing a transition to affirmative cyber coverage across its global commercial lines.

As of January 2020, AIG said that virtually all of its commercial property and casualty insurance policies will begin affirmatively covering or excluding physical and non-physical cyber exposures, addressing market concerns that traditional commercial insurance policies across the industry – from property to general liability – are often silent about cyber coverage.

Silent cyber coverage refers to property and liability policies not specifically designed to cover cyber risk that are often called on to potentially do so.

AIG noted that it has offered specific, standalone cyber insurance products for more than 20 years to clients in the event of a cyber security breach. As the cyber threat has grown in the last five years, AIG said it has been drawing on that expertise to provide more holistic cyber coverage for clients across standard commercial insurance lines and to incorporate affirmative cyber coverage into traditional P&C policies on a product-by-product basis.

Tracie Grella, Global Head of Cyber Insurance for AIG, pointed out that typical P/C policies haven’t been written specifically to deal with cyber exposure. With this in mind, she said that AIG believes in global P/C policies that are clear about the cyber coverage specifics that they provide.

“As we shift to affirmative cyber coverages and exclusions, our clients can more closely consider the cyber peril they face and evaluate how that exposure impacts coverages and policies across their enterprise,” Grella said in prepared remarks.

AIG started transitioning to affirmative cyber coverage in 2014 with its CyberEdge PC policy, designed to help fill gaps in any property and casualty policy where cyber coverage may have been inadequate, silent or unclear. AIG launched CyberEdge Plus in 2016, a standalone policy specifically designed to provide affirmative primary coverage to clients for a broad range of cyber risks, including physical damage, bodily injury and business interruption. In the same year,

AIG began introducing affirmative cyber coverage in its existing P&C lines when it enhanced its global Kidnap & Ransom policy to specifically address cyber as a peril.

AIG has been providing standalone cybersecurity insurance coverage since 1999 with serves that also help clients manage risks associated with cyber. AIG cyber policyholders have access to highly experienced underwriting, claims, and risk management professionals, pre-breach threat intelligence, governance tools, and the latest practices to help gain a holistic understanding of their cybersecurity exposure. That includes the responsiveness of their insurance program to a cyber event, the insurer said.

Source: AIG