A Conversation with Cowbell Cyber
Mark Brandt, VP of Commercial Lines at Smart Choice, sat down with Andy Wittgren, Director of Select Sales at Cowbell Cyber, for a Q &A on the state of cyber insurance today.
MB: Can you give me a quick bio - your background, role at Cowbell, etc.
AW: As the Director of Select Sales, I am responsible for all aspects of Cowbell's Independent Agent/Small Commercial distribution channel. I work from my home office in Southern Florida. Previously, I ran small commercial programs for The Hartford in California. I am a graduate of Purdue University and began my career in the wireless industry developing and managing retail distribution channels, products, and strategies.
MB: How would you compare the uptake of Cyber today to just a couple years ago? Are agents recognizing the importance of Cyber and including this coverage in their sales proposals more often?
AW: The understanding of the need for more robust cyber coverage has grown significantly over the past few years. However, currently only 1 out of 5 of the 33.2 million SMEs in the United states currently have cyber coverage, and the majority of those rely on inadequate BOP endorsements that provide little, if any coverage for the main forms of today's cyber attacks - ransomware and social engineering. More and more agents are looking for easy, understandable ways to discuss and offer cyber coverage with their insureds.
MB: Other than potential E&O claims, what is the threat to agencies who don’t offer Cyber to their commercial clients?
AW: The greatest threat is losing clients. More and more, new producers and new agencies are looking to use cyber as a "wedge" to open conversations with prospective clients, knowing that many agencies still do not offer a cyber solution. They can then further build their books by using their success with cyber to cross-sell into main line coverages. Just like many established producers and agency principles began their careers by looking for gaps in BOP or Workers Comp coverage to build their own books. And with the vast majority of SMEs uninsured or underinsured for cyber perils, stand alone cyber coverage offers new producers an opportunity to discuss real gaps most insureds have.
MB: For agents still hesitant to sell Cyber, what is the main cause of their concern? How have you addressed that at Cowbell?
AW: Usually, the main concern for agents not offering cyber is just understanding where and how to start. Cyber can be complex, with most cyber carriers requiring lengthy, complex applications and long underwriting processes that can delay placing business or, often, lead to declinations due to stringent underwriting requirements (such as the use of MFA). At Cowbell, we've made the quoting and binding process simple to do, and easy to understand.
By answering as few as 5 questions on our AI driven platform, an agent can quote and bind affordable, competitive coverage in as little as 3 minutes. No underwriter involvement, no back and forth, no MFA or other stringent requirements. Our AI driven platform already has over 90% of those 33.2 million SMEs pre-loaded and pre-evaluated using our 8 Cowbell Factors. Our simple 4 page proposal outlines the coverages available in easy to understand language, as well as how an insured scores compared to their peers in their industry.
And to help Agents get started and support them along their cyber journey, we have created the Cowbell Academy with easy, quick online courses on a variety of topics from Cyber 101 to how to sell cyber coverages. Plus, our team of 12 dedicated Account Executives and Associate Account Executives are available to support agents with all things Cowbell, from training and marketing to discussing specific risks and providing system support.
MB: We’ve seen articles about Cyber having capacity issues, and social engineering becoming potentially uninsurable. How do you see the crime coverages evolving with Cyber policies in the next few years?
AW: Interest in stand alone cyber coverage is rapidly growing among SMEs. Some carriers have struggled with securing the needed reinsurance to create a consistent offering. The real key for a carrier to be successful in cyber is to create a truly adaptable cyber insurance product that is backed up by a data driven underwriting system. A carrier also needs strong partnerships with cyber security providers to be able to understand and address emerging threats as they arrive and change. Cowbell's Adaptive Cyber Insurance allows policyholders to keep pace with evolving cyber threats. This is done through our closed-loop approach to risk management (Assess, Insure, Improve, Respond); continuous risk assessment and continuous underwriting are paving the way for modern cyber insurance and allowing policyholders to be proactive and achieve cyber resilience.
MB: There’s an old adage that some coverage is better than no coverage, and most carriers’ BOP products offer a Cyber endorsement. Do those endorsements provide adequate coverage How do they compare to a stand-alone Cyber policy?
AW: That old adage still holds true today. However, it's only true when that minimum coverage actually covers the perils at hand. Imagine a painting contractor with a work comp policy that doesn't include coverage for an employee falling off a ladder. In that case, "some coverage" is really no coverage because it does not address one of the most common perils. Most BOP endorsements don't provide coverage for ransomware or social engineering events, the most prevalent threats today. Stand alone cyber coverage is much more robust and complete, and more adjustable to fit the particular needs of each individual insured, while remaining competitively priced. Cowbell offers flexible limits, starting as low as $50,000, but still containing the key coverages needed in today's threat environment.
MB: What should agents look for when considering which Cyber product to offer their clients?
AW: Start with robust, flexible coverage that addresses the threats SMEs face today. An agent should then also consider what offerings a carrier has to enhance an insured's cyber security profile post coverage. For example, Cowbell offers several value-added resources for our insureds, including free Wizer cyber security training, a 6 months free subscription to Nordpass, and access to discounted services from other partners like Okta, Arctic Wolf, and CrowdStrike, just to name a few.
Cowbell's average insured sees their aggregate Cowbell Factor improve by over 9% over their first year insured with us because of these services. Also look for a carrier partner who uses their technology for more than up-front risk evaluation. At Cowbell, we continuously monitor our insureds post issuance on the same 8 Cowbell factors we use to analyze upfront risk. This allows us to engage with insureds to do more than provide coverage, helping to continuously improve their cyber security profile to address the ever changing cyber threat landscape.
Finally, consider the support you will have. Most stand alone cyber carriers only offer coverage through wholesalers, with no direct support for the agents. With Cowbell, agents have direct access and the support of a dedicated team of Account Executives and Associate Account Executives to help them at every step of the sales process.