Agents often purchase their E&O insurance and then presume they are fully covered for everything related to their business. However, this may not always be the case. As someone said at a recent conference for attorneys, “Insurance companies aren’t in the business of paying out.”

E&O policies often have a number of exclusions that its important for agents—and brokers—to make sure they fully understand. A common E&O exclusion is cyber incidents. In order to make sure you are covered for cyber incidents, you will likely need to purchase a separate policy specifically for cyber incidents.

But, just like with E&O policies, cyber insurance policies will have exclusions as well. It’s important to read all of your policies carefully to make sure that you know what is and what isn’t covered. If you aren’t sure or don’t fully understand, make sure to talk to your insurance company so that you are clear.

You also want to make sure that you clearly understand what to do, and when to do it, if you need to make an insurance claim. Then, keep this information both electronically and in hard copy somewhere. Having all the information electronically isn’t helpful if you are facing a ransomware attack and don’t have access to any of your policy information.