Every insurance company, agency and broker must guarantee client privacy and confidentiality. It is important for a variety of reasons.
Insurance agents use a variety of personal information to determine coverage specifics. To do so, they handle information about an individual’s property and financial assets. Should this information fall into the wrong hands, it could prove ruinous to the client.
Risks Associated With Insurance Customer Data
Most insurance agencies keep comprehensive records of each client. This portfolio will likely contain the client’s various policies. It also usually holds their contact, financial and personal information. This might include credit ratings, social security numbers and more. It’s not uncommon for insurance agents to store this information on a cloud, hard drive or other device.
In most cases, some of this information is extremely sensitive. Things like social security numbers are among the most guarded statistics in society. Those who provide this information to insurance agents expect it to remain secure. If the information were to become public, it might lead to severe harm, up to and including identity theft.
If you place private information of the customer on a data network, you must realize that you have exposed it to considerable privacy risks. No computer forum is completely secure. Viruses, hackers and other fraudsters target private information for the purpose of theft. If this happens, you’ll need to do damage control.
However, cleaning up following data losses often is not cheap. You might have to pay for new hardware, emergency intervention, and notification services for clients. Furthermore, you might face mounting legal costs should clients decide to sue you. Without a financial cushion, your agency could face ruin. The costs of repair might exceed any of your financial reserves.
Nevertheless, data losses don’t have to become overwhelming. With cyber liability insurance, you can better protect your agency from financial harm. This protection can assist you in various capacities. First, it can help you pay for emergency intervention by theft prevention experts. It can also cover penalties from lawsuits, state regulators and other parties. You might also use the coverage to provide clients with protective services like credit monitoring.
Do not forget to do what you can to prevent cyber theft in the first place. Install data security systems, and monitor who can access private information. Should you have questions about what your policy covers, call your insurance agent.