Executive Summary: HDFC Ergo's E@Secure and Bajaj Allianz's Cyber Safe Insurance Policy are policies offering financial cover against cyber crimes and cyber liabilities. We provide an overview of these policies.
Today business and personal transactions are carried out increasingly on the web. This is convenient but at the same time brings in more risks to the business. Just as we protect our life financially with term insurance and our factories with fire insurance, we need to insure ourselves against financial losses arising from cyber attacks. Cyber attacks can be in the form of phishing, e-mail spoof, identity theft, malware attacks, cyber stalking etc.
How do we protect ourselves from these cyber liabilities and cyber crimes? Insurance companies have come up with cyber protection products. These insurance policies provide financial cover for cyber threats. We compare two such products – HDFC Ergo's E@Secure and Bajaj Allianz's Cyber Safe Insurance Policy.
How do we protect ourselves from these cyber liabilities and cyber crimes? Insurance companies have come up with cyber protection products. These insurance policies provide financial cover for cyber threats. We compare two such products – HDFC Ergo's E@Secure and Bajaj Allianz's Cyber Safe Insurance Policy.
Details |
HDFC Ergo's E@Secure |
Bajaj Allianz's Cyber Safe |
Key Features |
Designed for individuals and families (self, spouse and 2 dependent children). Offers cover for damage to e-reputation, fraudulent transactions using credit cards, debit cards and theft of personal information. Covers phishing, email spoofing and cyber harassment. Legal expenses and Psychologist costs are covered. |
Designed for individuals. Offers insurance against threats like identity Threat, social media liability, phishing, email spoof, malware attacks, cyber extortion, privacy breach and cyber stalking. Provides cover for IT consultant costs, defence and prosecution costs. Covers office devices and personal devices. |
Sum Assured |
₹ 50,000 to ₹ 100 lakhs Family cover - Available only for sum assured of ₹ 5,00,000 and above. |
₹ 1 lakh to ₹ 100 lakhs |
Eligibility |
Any person over the age of 18 years can buy the policy for self and family. |
Any person over the age of 18 years can buy the policy. |
Premium |
₹ 1,938 for one person for sum assured of Rs. 1,00,000 per annum. ₹ 15859 for a family of four for sum assured of ₹ 5,00,000 per annum. |
₹ 662 to ₹8933 per annum |
Exclusions |
Losses incurred due to the following are not covered - - Illegal and malicious acts - Damages by journalists - Improper conduct or lack of precautionary measures - Business activities or work done for profit - Non-digital media acts - Claims reported after 6 months of event |
Data loss or financial loss due to unsolicited communication, unauthorised data collection, usage of immoral services, improper usage and conduct and cryptocurrency dealings are not covered. |
Our Analysis |
The cover is comprehensive but it does not cover losses incurred while undertaking business activities. It has optional covers for malware issues and family cover. It is worth taking the policy only if you spend a lot of time on the Internet and do a variety of transactions online. Exclusions are subjective and open to interpretation which might make getting the claim difficult It does not cover claims arisen due to past circumstances of transactions which is again open to interpretation. There are sub-limits for for the claims. For example identity theft is covered for 25% of the sum insured and e-extortion is covered for 10% of the sum insured. |
It provides cover against many Internet threats but does not cover transactions made from cyber cafes or unknown devices. The definition of 'Unknown devices' is not clear. The exclusions are subjective. It is worth taking the policy only if you spend a lot of time on the Internet and do a variety of transactions online. It has sub-limits for all Internet threats. Identity threat is just covered for 10% and cyber extortion is covered only for 10%. |
Once you take the insurance does not mean you can do away with responsibilities. You are still responsible for safe and secure Internet transactions and online interactions. Maintain the latest anti-virus updates, up-to-date software patches and have backups else the insurance company might hold you as an irresponsible e-citizen and reject your claim. Moreover losses due to government authority transactions are not covered. Even if you are insured agains e-threats, ensure that you conduct online transactions in a safe and secure way.
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