October 10, 2025
Picture this.
It’s Monday morning. Your team logs in or tries to. Nothing works. Emails are bouncing, files are gone, and a red screen says your network’s been encrypted. A ransom demand follows.
Now imagine this: you’ve got no cyber insurance, no incident response plan, and every hour you’re offline is costing you time, money, and trust.
This kind of situation is happening more often than most people realise and yet over 60% of UK businesses still don’t have cyber insurance or cyber security insurance in place.
If you’ve been putting this off, you’re far from alone. But the risks are rising, and the fix might be simpler than you think.
Cyber insurance (also called cyber security insurance) helps protect your business from the financial and operational damage caused by a cyber-attack.
It’s a specialist policy designed to step in when things go wrong, covering costs like:
• Recovering lost or locked data
• Hiring experts to investigate and contain the damage
• Notifying affected customers or clients
• Legal defence and regulatory fines (such as GDPR breaches)
• Lost income if your systems go down
It’s the kind of cover you hope you’ll never need, but if you do, it can be a lifeline to your organisation.
Here’s what cyber insurance typically covers:
1. Data breaches
If customer, staff, or financial data is compromised cyber insurance can cover:
• Legal advice and regulatory support
• Customer notifications and credit monitoring
• Public relations or crisis comms
2. Business interruption
If you can’t operate due to an attack cyber insurance can cover:
• Lost income during downtime
• System and data recovery costs
• Temporary fixes to keep you trading
3. Ransomware and cyber extortion
If you're locked out of your systems cyber insurance can cover:
• Negotiation costs and response support
• Payment of ransoms (where allowed)
• System repair and malware removal
4. Claims from third parties
If someone else is affected by a breach on your systems cyber insurance can cover:
• Legal fees
• Settlements or compensation
5. Forensic investigation
Cyber insurance can cover the cost of specialist teams that may be brought in to:
• Identify what happened
• Stop further damage
• Secure your systems
6. Social engineering (sometimes)
This covers scams like fake emails or phone calls tricking staff into transferring money. However, it’s not always included by default, so it’s usually best to check.
Even the best policies have limits. Cyber insurance usually won’t cover:
• Attacks made possible by outdated or missing security tools
• Incidents involving known vulnerabilities you haven’t fixed
• Cyber warfare or state-sponsored attacks
• Physical hardware damage
• Criminal investigations
You also need to have certain security basics in place and insurers expect this. No antivirus or two-factor authentication? You may not be eligible.
Here’s a simple list that makes a big difference:
✅ Check your backups are running properly
✅ Enable two-factor authentication on emails and systems
✅ Ask your IT provider if you meet Cyber Essentials standards
✅ Train your team on how to spot a phishing email
✅ Check if you're already eligible for cyber insurance
Small steps, big impact.
A family-run wholesaler lost access to their systems after a staff member clicked a link in a fake invoice email.
Their stock system and order history were encrypted. Four days of downtime followed.
Emergency IT support, data recovery, and customer refunds cost them over £15,000 and they had no insurance.
They’ve since gone through Cyber Essentials and now have cyber insurance in place. The lesson? It doesn’t matter how big you are. It matters how well you're protected.
Cyber Essentials is a UK government-backed certification scheme that helps businesses prevent the most common types of cyber-attack.
It’s straightforward, credible, and recognised by customers, insurers, and suppliers.
The certification checks that you have:
• Firewalls in place
• Proper system configurations
• Secure user access controls
• Malware protection
• Up-to-date patching and software
It’s an excellent starting point – especially if you don’t have in-house IT.
Find out more about cyber essentials.
Yes, if you’re Cyber Essentials certified, based in the UK, and your turnover is under £20 million, you could get up to £25,000 of cyber insurance included.
This can cover:
Incident response
• 24/7 expert helpline
• Immediate IT forensics
Data and system recovery
• Malware removal
• Lost data restoration
Legal and regulatory costs
• GDPR support
• Customer notifications
• Legal defence and settlements
Downtime support
• Lost income
• Emergency system fixes
That kind of response is quick, calm and doesn’t drain your budget but can make all the difference.
The included cover is a great starting point, but:
• Phishing or bank transfer scams may be excluded
• Social engineering fraud often isn’t covered
• The £25,000 limit may not stretch far for businesses with sensitive data or high digital reliance
So, if your business handles a lot of data or could face serious disruption, a standalone cyber insurance policy might be a safer bet.
We can help you work that out.
Over half of all UK businesses have already suffered a cyber-attack.
And according to Howden, the cost of the most serious attack for each of them added up to £44 billion across the UK economy.
Whether it’s phishing, ransomware, or a supply chain breach, your reputation, operations, and cashflow are at stake. Cyber insurance gives you a financial safety net. Cyber Essentials helps you get there.
What is cyber insurance?
Cyber insurance protects businesses from the financial damage caused by cyber-attacks, data breaches, or system outages.
What does cyber insurance cover?
It usually covers data recovery, legal costs, regulatory support, business interruption, forensic investigation, and sometimes ransomware or social engineering.
Is cyber insurance included with Cyber Essentials?
Yes – if you meet the criteria, Cyber Essentials certification comes with up to £25,000 of insurance cover.
What is cyber security insurance?
Cyber security insurance is another term for cyber insurance. It’s designed to protect your business from digital threats and online attacks.
Is cyber insurance worth it?
If your business uses email, holds customer data, or operates online, then yes its absolutely worth it.
Let’s make this simple
If you’re not sure where to start, or whether you’re covered we’re here.
At Bruce & Butler, we’ll walk you through Cyber Essentials, help you understand what kind of cyber insurance is right for your business, and give you practical, jargon-free advice along the way.
No pressure. Just clear guidance from people who know what they’re doing.
Use the form below to get in touch – we’ll get straight back to you.