The Cyber Insurance Industry Sounds Like A Broken Record. When Will We Finally Fix It?

The recently released Munich Re Global Cyber Risk and Insurance Survey 2024 provides a sobering snapshot of where we stand as an industry. While global cyber premiums are estimated at $14 billion in 2023, and the market is projected to nearly double to $29 billion by 2027, the report underscores a persistent and frustrating reality: a significant insurance gap remains. This isn’t new information, yet as an industry, we seem to be treading water rather than swimming forward.

I've kept abreast of cyber insurance trends since COVID shook the industry wide awake and made cyber coverage our next biggest growth engine. And since that seismic shift we’ve seen some positive movement—such as the hard market beginning to soften. But the needle hasn’t moved nearly enough. The demand for cyber insurance is there, and the business potential is immense, but the lack of action in closing the gap is staggering. It’s clear that we’re still not doing enough to educate the market or to push for greater adoption of cyber insurance.

Why Aren’t We Doing More?

28% of potential policyholders have never even been offered cyber insurance.

The Munich Re survey reveals that 28% of potential policyholders have never even been offered cyber insurance. This statistic is alarming. If we continue to shy away from these conversations, we’re not just missing out on market opportunities—we're failing our clients. In 2024, not discussing cyber insurance with commercial clients is not only inadequate and uncompetitive but, frankly, outright unprofessional. Yet, the survey found that a significant share of C-level respondents who don’t have a cyber policy in place are either unaware of its existence or don’t understand the product.

34% of potential SME policyholders do not understand the cyber insurance product or what it covers.

The survey also highlighted that a substantial portion of respondents cited lack of knowledge of risk transfer solutions as a barrier to purchasing cyber insurance. In the small business segment, where revenue is up to $1 million, this figure reaches 34%. For some years now, we've been talking about increasing penetration in the SME market—when will we actually act on this goal?

It’s Time to Educate the Workforce

This gap in understanding is unacceptable in a market with so much at stake. As the Munich Re report (rightfully) points out, we need to be proactive in educating our workforce and our policyholders, standardizing policy wordings, and making our offerings more transparent and accessible. But none of this should be new to anyone who has been in this industry for long enough.

There are tools and resources available—like the Cyber Insurance Academy ’s Certified Cyber Insurance Specialist (CCIS) training or our AI-powered co-pilot, Cyber Buddy—that can equip brokers and their teams with the confidence and expertise needed to engage in these crucial conversations.

The excuses for not talking about cyber insurance are running thin. The solutions are there; the demand is there. What’s missing is the industry’s collective will to close the gap.

If we continue at this pace, we’ll miss the opportunity to realize the market's full potential—and worse, we’ll leave countless businesses vulnerable in the process.

We are hurtling towards 2025 and I want this era of broken records to end by the new year. It's time to stop talking about what needs to be done and start doing it. The tools, resources, and market potential are in place; we need to act now to educate and engage. The future of cyber insurance is bright, but only if the industry collectively decides to take the training and development of their workforce seriously.