Pen Underwriting expands SME cyber coverage to simplify and enhance policyholder protection
Published On : 11 Sep 2025
Pen Underwriting, the multi-class multi-territory managing general agent (MGA), has launched six key coverage enhancements to its UK SME cyber proposition as part of its commitment to continuously review and adapt offerings in line with evolving exposures and to ensure positive customer outcomes.
The six enhancements remove upfront burdens on customers in the event of a cyber extortion incident and respond to wider shifts identified in the make-up and potential duration of claims. Designed to maximise indemnity levels through sub-limit removal or elongated restoration timescales, as well as ensure cashflow issues or financial resources are not a barrier to swift action, the changes ensure the breadth and structure of insurance cover reflects the reality of diverse cyber risk scenarios faced in this ever-changing space.
This latest suite of coverage improvements builds on a raft of significant enhancements made last year to Pen’s SME cyber proposition, when more than 20 areas of core, additional and crime cover were added to Pen’s offering for UK businesses with revenues up to £600m. This included the pivotal introduction of an ‘Any One Claim’ limit basis for indemnity, to reflect the increasing likelihood of businesses being hit multiple times by different cyber events in any 12-month period and ensure the full limit of cover can apply to each, and every, claim.
The latest six cyber enhancements are:
- ‘Pay on behalf’ language – to remove the logistical, stress, and financial burdens businesses face during cyber extortion incidents by enabling cyber insurance professionals to step in, facilitate payments, provide immediate assistance and deliver what’s needed to minimise downtime and damage. Rather than customers having to find funds upfront and wait to be reimbursed.
- Period of restoration – more than doubled from 180 to 365 days to reflect the potential for systems and network business interruption (BI) to be prolonged as cyber criminals devise ever more inventive and invasive means of disruption.
- Breach response costs – additional cover outside of the main policy limit (£250,000 sub-limit for clients with revenue under £100m).
- Hardware replacement – provided at full limit, with previous sub-limit removed, to best respond to bricking incidents.
- Security upgrade costs - provided at full limit, with previous sub-limit removed, covering reasonable and necessary costs to install upgrades and improvements to digital assets.
- Voluntary and regulatory shutdown – provided at full limit, with previous sub-limit removed, to cater for BI losses arising from system shutdown.
Commenting on the raft of customer enhancements, Ian Summerfield, Managing Director of International Cyber, D&O and PI at Pen Underwriting at Pen Underwriting, said:
“We don’t make coverage changes lightly. Our process of continual review, adjustment and improvement is aimed at ensuring customers have access to the most relevant and most responsive cyber policy possible – whatever type of cyber incident they may ultimately find themselves subjected to.
“These latest changes represent important and material enhancements, making it even more compelling for brokers to recommend Pen’s cyber insurance to their clients in a fast-moving competitive market. Take our “pay on behalf” language. In the event of a cyber extortion event, this enables us to facilitate the payment of a ransom while also navigating the alien world of cryptocurrency on behalf of the impacted insured business – an invaluable service alongside the wider benefit of not having to find funds upfront to cover fees and expenses.
“Cyber risk never stands still, so we won’t either. Few, if any, areas of business risk are evolving as quickly as cyber and every coverage enhancement we introduce responds directly to challenges, changes or complexities that UK businesses are facing.”
