DAS and Geo Underwriting Combine to Transform Cyber Insurance Market

DAS UK Group, the UK’s leading legal expenses insurer, has partnered with Geo Underwriting – formerly Towergate Underwriting – to launch the UK’s first high-net-worth (HNW) Private Clients home insurance product that combines home emergency, legal expenses and cyber cover with access to a ground-breaking software platform – from cyber security experts Dynarisk – that provides a bespoke analysis of a family’s cyber risks.

The Private Clients home insurance offering, which is available through a select group of brokers, is also one of the first UK home insurance products to include mandatory cyber cover as standard.

Dynarisk’s innovative software platform works by assessing the online behaviours of individuals and families across numerous digital devices to give them a unique ‘risk score’. The software then advises what action to take to reduce the risk of an online crime or to prevent a cyber incident. The platform can also be used to assess a consumer’s cyber risk presale, enabling brokers to provide a bespoke cyber insurance policy while helping consumers to mitigate cyber threats.

The product’s home emergency, legal expenses and cyber cover will be underwritten by DAS and administered by Geo. The cyber aspects of the product, meanwhile, have been developed as part of an ongoing collaboration between DAS, part of the ERGO Group – one of Europe’s largest insurance groups – and HSB Engineering Insurance (HSB), part of Munich Re, the world’s largest insurer and ERGO’s majority shareholder.

James Henderson, Managing Director Insurance UK & Ireland, DAS UK Group, said: “Although making cyber a mandatory part of a home insurance product is still quite rare, it is the addition of a cyber risk health check for consumers that is a real game changer for the industry. Threats from online crime such as hacking, ransomware and identity theft are now just as potentially devastating to consumers as a house fire. As an insurer’s role is increasingly to protect and prevent, it’s vital that companies such as DAS reflect these seismic societal changes, as well as the opportunities they present.

“We’ve worked very hard with Geo and fellow members of the Munich Re family HSB to develop this new product which really takes cyber cover to the next level. We’re also particularly excited about working with Dynarisk, which has provided an innovative risk management tool that not only helps consumers mitigate and prevent cyber incidents, but which will also bolster customer loyalty and awareness.”

Alex Fletton, CEO, Geo Personal Lines, said: “I’m delighted that we can launch Geo’s first Personal Lines product on the very day that Geo Personal Lines itself is born. The new Private Clients product is the result of the expertise and vision of our Private Client MD Scott Leonard and his team who have chosen the best partners – such as DAS, HSB and Dynarisk – who are real experts in their field and will bring something new and innovative to this market.”