Inigo to offer property damage in cyber roll-out

Inigo’s entrance into the cyber market will initially look to complement its existing book of large corporate clients, the Lloyd’s insurer’s head of cyber said.

James Creasy, who was named head of cyber in May, said the business was not looking to grow aggressively in the market, adding cross-selling with its other core lines of property, general liability and directors’ and officers’ would be the initial focus.

Cyber is the only new line of business Inigo is entering in 2023, a move Creasy said is in line with the carrier’s focus on “servicing the largest companies in the world… in the classes of business they spend 80% of their premium on”.

“We’re not looking to be really aggressive in the market,” Creasy told Insurance Day. “We’re here to write the right business and support the other lines of business, making sure we’ve got multi-class relationships across the clients that mean most to us.

“In the first couple of years it’s going to be complementary to the larger classes of business we do. But we’re building a lead team with respected specialists underwriters and when the opportunity presents itself we’ll grow into that.”

Data and analytics will play a big role in managing the Lloyd’s insurer’s exposure in cyber, Creasy said, arguing Inigo will have an advantage on this front compared with some legacy insurers. “Being able to collect all that data at the point of underwriting so we have great oversight of our book and are able to fully model it on the exposure management side and on the pricing side – that is a massive advantage,” he said.

The insurer’s focus on large corporates will also help it manage exposure, Creasy said. Whereas insurers with a large small to medium-sized enterprise port­folio tend to provide a lot of limit for low premium, he said, by focusing on large corporates Inigo can achieve a lower policy count and secure higher premiums relative to the limit it offers.

Outside this core business, Inigo will also offer cyber property damage – cover for physical damage caused by cyber attacks. This is a line that has largely been excluded from standard cover and one Creasy said Lloyd’s has been at the forefront of developing as a standalone market.

“In a competitive marketplace it’s important we innovate and lead to products that are less commoditised, and cyber property damage is certainly one of those,” he said.

While standard cyber has become more of a “must-have” policy for larger businesses, cyber property attracts a different kind of buyer, including manufacturers, utilities and mining business, which have sophisticated operational technology. These buyers are usually looking for larger limits closer to what they have on the property side. “For us, there’s a real opportunity to build on existing limit in the marketplace, which probably doesn’t satisfy clients' total buying needs,” Creasy said.

“The market is aware it’s a growing risk for them. They’re yet to see the loss play out, but when they do, I think there’ll be a significant growth moment in that market as industries realise it’s a ‘must-have’ product,” he said.

“It’s a small premium, but nevertheless there is clearly a risk there. We’re looking to surface the science of that risk, understand it and price it [knowing] at some point there will be increased demand for the product. We’ll need to be there helping our clients with what will be a new and uncomfortable risk area.”