Marsh Launches Global Excess Cyber Risk Facility Called ‘Cyber ECHO’

Marsh has launched “Cyber ECHO”, a global excess cyber risk facility that provides more reliable insurance coverage for organizations around the world.

Following a series of high-profile cyber losses, underwriters have become more selective and may actually reduce the amount of capital they are willing to deploy on certain risks – such as those involving health care and payment card data, said Marsh in a statement.

This is particularly acute in the excess cyber market, where rates have more than doubled in the US over the last 12 months, the broker said.

The Cyber ECHO product is designed to bring greater stability to the excess market, Marsh said, by providing up to $50 million in “follow form” coverage for clients in “any industry sector and risk profile around the world.”

Underwritten by leading Lloyd’s of London syndicates, the facility is designed to respond consistently to the terms and conditions outlined in the primary cyber policy, Marsh said. “Such follow form language helps to mitigate coverage ambiguities that can sometimes lead to costly disputes and/or delays in claims payments.”

Cyber ECHO also includes a pre-priced option that allows insureds to reinstate their policy limits if they experience a cyber event during the policy period, which could exhaust their limits, the broker said.

“While overall capacity in the cyber market remains abundant, the excess market is highly volatile,” said Bob Parisi, Marsh’s US Cyber Product leader. “With Cyber ECHO, we are providing clients of all industry sectors with an efficient and more predictable excess coverage solution.”

Leslie Kurshan, head of Product Development for the Financial and Professional (FINPRO) Practice at Marsh UK, added: “Inconsistent wordings and varying terms and conditions between primary and excess insurance policies can contribute to significant delays in claims being paid and may even result in the failure to recover costs from insurers. Cyber ECHO helps to mitigate these issues, and is designed to aid in swift recovery from a loss.”

Source: Marsh

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