As a business owner, you may need various types of insurance to limit financial losses for your company. If you store or process any sensitive customer information, such as their names, addresses or financial information, one coverage you'll need is cyber insurance. It may feel like another added cost but cyber insurance can protect businesses of any size in any industry, before and after a data breach or other cybersecurity threat.
Standard business liability insurance generally does not cover cyber liability, so you'll either need to add it to your policy or purchase this coverage separately. Below, CNBC Select rounds up the best cyber insurance companies to consider for this coverage. (See our methodology for more information on how we made this list.)
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Best for access to experts
Travelers Business Insurance
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
Policy highlights
Travelers is highly ranked for financial strength and has a below average complaint index with the NAIC. It offers unique features like TravPay, which links to payroll to your worker's compensation policy, and TravComp, which can help handle worker's compensation claims.
App available
Yes
Pros
- Rated A++ for financial strength by AM Best, and below average NAIC complaint index score
- Unique features can help manage worker's compensation
Cons
- Online quotes aren't available for business policies
Who's this for? Travelers is worth considering if you want access to cybersecurity coaching experts that can provide actionable advice before and after a cyber breach. Its cyber liability insurance offers coverage options for litigation expenses, forensic investigations, business interruption, cyber extortion and more.
Standout benefits: The customer-exclusive Travelers eRiskHub offers resources can help you prevent network, cyber and privacy events, as well as support you in a prompt response if an incident occurs.
Best for variety of coverage options
Nationwide Business Insurance
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
Policy highlights
Nationwide offers insurance policies for small and large businesses alike in a variety of industries. A number of insurance types also help business owners to tailor their coverage.
App available
Yes
Pros
- Highly rated for customer satisfaction and financial strength
- Wide variety of industries and coverages sold
Cons
- App doesn't support business policy management
Who's this for? Nationwide is ideal if you're looking for a variety of cyber liability coverages and services. Coverage includes defense and settlement costs for claims made by third parties in the event of the loss of sensitive third-party information and breach remediation (this includes notification, credit monitoring, computer forensics and breach coaching). It also offers system interruption loss, cyber extortion and first-party asset restoration costs. There are also several coverage add-ons customers can purchase to enhance their policy.
Standout benefits: Nationwide offers a few preventative services, including legal consultations, network vulnerability testing, as well as access to risk management tools like RiskHub and Cyber Safety powered by Zeguro.
Best for an instant quote
Next Business Insurance
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
Policy highlights
Next covers small businesses in dozens of industries, and a number of different coverage types to choose from. Quotes and claims online make the process quick and digital-friendly.
App available
Yes
Pros
- Wide variety of policies available and quotes are available online
- Certificate of insurance available online immediately
Cons
- Not ranked for customer satisfaction
Who's this for? NEXT is ideal if you need coverage in a pinch. It offers cyber liability insurance to help protect from the fallout of data breaches, ransomware, wire fraud, cyber-attacks and even hardware failures. According to its website, you can get quotes instantly and insurance coverage in less than 10 minutes.
Standout benefits: NEXT offers 24/7 expert help to assist businesses after a cyber attack.
Best for low coverage minimum
AmTrust Financial
Cost
The best way to estimate your costs is to request a quote
Policy highlights
AmTrust offers nationwide coverage with multiple coverage offers for small businesses including workers' compensation, businessowners policy, cyber insurance, general liability, commercial property and executive liability
App available
Yes
Pros
- Services several industries including auto repair, contractors, financial institutions, grocery stores, healthcare, hospitality, restaurants, retail and more.
- Coverage available for limits as low as $50,000
- Offers coverage for first-party losses and third-party liability
- Available in all 50 states and DC
Cons
- Some competitors offer coverage to more industries
Who's this for? AmTrust Financial is geared toward business owners seeking a low cyber insurance coverage minimum, starting at just $50,000. According to Insureon, an independent marketplace for small business insurance, $1 million should be enough coverage for small businesses that handle a few thousand records of customer personally identifiable information (PII). But if your business can't afford higher coverage, some coverage is better than none.
Standout benefits: AmTrust coverage is available in all 50 states and Washington DC.
More on our picks for best cyber insurance companies for small businesses
Travelers
Travelers offers cyber insurance to businesses of all sizes and boasts an A++ rating for financial strength by AM Best. Cyber coaching services are available for no additional cost and span three main focus areas: the HCL Technologies Cybersecurity Coach helpline helps you learn how to prevent breaches; the HIPAA Coach helps you learn ways to prevent the breach of personal health information; the Breach Coach® offers services to help you mitigate the fallout after a breach has occurred. Note that you must work with an agent to get a quote.
Claims available online?
Yes
Nationwide
Nationwide is a household name in the insurance industry. It offers cyber coverage enhancements for things like regulatory fines, no retention for notification costs and dependent network business interruption coverage. Nationwide also offers loss prevention services, including security and compliance training, network security vulnerability testing, legal consultations and industry-specific policy assistance.
Claims available online?
Yes
NEXT
NEXT offers several services within its cyber liability insurance. A policy can help you cover legal fees, forensic and PR costs (following a data breach), credit monitoring and even any penalties your business may face following a breach. However, your policy won't cover medical bills, accusations of libel or slander, illegal activity, intentional wrongdoing or damage to someone else's personal property.
Claims available online?
Yes
AmTrust Financial
AmTrust Financial is a major business insurance provider. Its cyber insurance can cover ransom payments, costs to restore computer systems, business interruptions, business interruptions from a business's suppliers, income loss due to reputational harm, cyber deception, cryptojacking and more. However, you must work with an agent to get a quote.
Claims available online?
Yes
What cyber liability insurance covers
Cyber liability insurance can help cover costs your business incurs as a result of data breaches and cyberattacks.
This can include expenses for investigative services, data recovery, identity recovery and repairing damaged systems. Cyber liability insurance can also cover lost income due to a cyberattack, as well as damages to customers or partners, including potential legal costs. In some cases, cyber liability insurance can also cover ransom payments needed to recover your data and regulatory fines.
What's not covered by cyber liability insurance
Cyber insurance typically doesn't cover intentional harm, illegal activities, property damage and sometimes even loss of future profits. However, you'll want to double-check your policy so you can get an accurate picture of what your specific insurer will and will not cover.
FAQs
Is cyber insurance worth it for small businesses?
Cyber liability insurance can be worth it for any sized business because you can't predict when a cyber attack will occur and they can be costly. Furthermore, your business can sometimes be on the hook for regulatory penalties as a result of a cyber breach and some cyber liability insurance can help you cover these costs.
Who needs cyber liability insurance?
Any business that stores or processes sensitive customer information, such as their names, addresses Social Security numbers or financial information, should consider cyber insurance. This can include accountants, consultants, contractors, real estate agents, medical professionals, restaurants, retailers, travel agents and many more.
What are the benefits of cyber insurance for small businesses?
Cyber insurance may seem like another added expense but the benefits can often be well worth the cost. Benefits include access to tools to help you prevent a cyber attack and mitigate the fallout after a breach, protecting your business from privacy violations, expert support and coverage for certain fees you may incur after a breach.
Why trust CNBC Select?
At CNBC Select, our mission is to provide our readers with high-quality service journalism and comprehensive consumer advice so they can make informed decisions with their money. Every cyber insurance review is based on rigorous reporting by our team of expert writers and editors with extensive knowledge of insurance products. To research the best insurance companies, we compiled over 100 data points on more than a dozen insurance companies. While CNBC Select earns a commission from affiliate partners on many offers and links, we create all our content without input from our commercial team or any outside third parties, and we pride ourselves on our journalistic standards and ethics. See our methodology for more information on how we choose the best cyber insurance companies.
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Our methodology
To determine the best cyber insurance companies for small businesses, CNBC Select analyzed dozens of insurance companies and compared them based on various factors.
While narrowing down the best insurance companies, we focused on availability, coverage offered and access to support. We also considered the ease of receiving quotes and industries serviced where available.
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