Cyber

In the event of an actual or suspected breach incident I know I should call the CMS breach hotline, but should I also notify Markel of the claim?

Only one call, to the CMS breach response hotline, is required in order to notify your claim. You don’t need to notify Markel’s claims team separately. Once you have called the breach response number and have notified CMS, CMS will pass this information on to Markel’s claims team to consider coverage. CMS can immediately start helping you with the incident as your cyber breach coach, without prejudice to cover.

Does my retention apply to the breach response service provided by CMS?

No retention applies when calling the breach response number or when speaking with CMS on the initial notification call for guidance or advice on a notification. If further advice is required from CMS or other vendor partners following the initial call, as part of the response to the Incident taking place, then the monetary retention on your policy will apply.

Must I call CMS in the event of a circumstance or cyber event taking place?

Yes. You should call the CMS breach response hotline as soon as practicable, if you believe you have a circumstance or event taking place that may give rise to a claim under the policy.

I’m not sure if what I’m experiencing is a cyber attack or simply an IT or tech malfunction. Should I call the hotline either way?

In our experience, the quicker the response to a cyber incident, the lower the overall impact to the business.

Our policy provides cover where there is actual or reasonably suspected unauthorised access to your systems. Therefore, we would recommend that you contact the hotline for assistance should you be uncertain about any potential IT or technology issues. CMS can work with you to investigate and contain the incident to offer you peace of mind.

My company has subsidiaries in foreign jurisdictions outside of my main country of domicile. If they have a circumstance or cyber event to notify, what should they do?

Regardless of location, please call the CMS breach response hotline listed in your policy in the event of an actual or suspected cyber event. CMS have local offices and partner legal firms in many countries throughout the world, as do Markel. Where possible and if required, CMS will refer the Insured to one of their local offices or a network firm with local language capabilities. In the event that legal advice is required in a specific country or jurisdiction, CMS will be able to provide legal advice for that jurisdiction.

When does a Markel claims adjuster get involved? Do I need to speak to a claims adjuster directly?

CMS will let a Markel claims adjuster know that an incident has occurred, following your notification to the CMS breach response hotline. CMS will not provide any coverage advice to Markel, or to you. The Markel claims adjuster will consider coverage and will ask for more information if required in order to consider coverage further. Once cover is confirmed, your Markel claims adjuster will be involved in agreeing the appointment of vendors and the incident response strategy.

I want to use a non-panel vendor of my own choosing. Is this possible and if so, how does it work?

Markel has worked with CMS to establish a panel of vendors that we know provide high-quality and efficient service delivery. As such, we prefer that Insureds utilise their services on an Incident where possible. However, we appreciate that on occasions it may be preferable for a business to utilise other providers that can provide specialist support and/or already know their systems. Where this is the case, Markel is always willing to consider Insureds working with other third parties. We would welcome a discussion with the business prior to policy inception so we can seek to agree terms and reflect this in the policy. The use of third-party vendors is still subject to overall coordination by breach counsel, which would typically be CMS or a network firm.