Data Breach insurance

[grandmabee]

It's getting time to renewal my insurance.  I am looking to add some kind of Data breach insurance.

Anyone have any and can give names or what all I should have included in the policy?

thanks for any help.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

I have Aon Insurance through AICPA.  It has an option which I chose called Netprotect which covers network damage and extortion as well as privacy breaches. Hoping I never have to file a claim but the peace of mind was/is worth the $190 it cost.

[Lion EA]

My E&O policy is part of a group policy via NAEA. The underwriters vary by state, but it's all via NAEA. I added the Cyber rider a few years ago. It does add a couple hundred dollars to my premium, but I sleep better at night.

[ILLMAS]

Just in this past IRS nationwide tax forum, a tax preparer shared her experience on the attack her business went through, scary thats all i can say.

[Catherine]

Beasley is who I use; first year was a promo through Drake but the premium didn't go up.

[grandmabee]

19 hours ago, Catherine said:

Beasley is who I use; first year was a promo through Drake but the premium didn't go up.

What is your coverage limit.  The one my agent wants to add is only 50,000.  that doesn't seem enough with the horror stories out there.

 

[grandmabee]

On 8/25/2020 at 8:37 PM, Lion EA said:

My E&O policy is part of a group policy via NAEA. The underwriters vary by state, but it's all via NAEA. I added the Cyber rider a few years ago. It does add a couple hundred dollars to my premium, but I sleep better at night.

DO you know what the coverage limit is?

[Lion EA]

The IRS seminar and then the same speaker at my local NY/CT-ATP said $250,000 MINIMUM. By the time you hire a lawyer and a PR person and a preparer or two to cover for you while you deal with the security breach for weeks/months and credit monitoring for everyone in your database (H/W and two kids is FOUR; partnership with 5 partners is SIX, for instance) and maybe even new computers when Homeland Security seizes yours, you'll spend a bundle!

[Lion EA]

I think I got $250,000. I think my options were $100,000 or $250,000 or $500,000.

[Randall]

On 8/29/2020 at 4:20 PM, Lion EA said:

The IRS seminar and then the same speaker at my local NY/CT-ATP said $250,000 MINIMUM. By the time you hire a lawyer and a PR person and a preparer or two to cover for you while you deal with the security breach for weeks/months and credit monitoring for everyone in your database (H/W and two kids is FOUR; partnership with 5 partners is SIX, for instance) and maybe even new computers when Homeland Security seizes yours, you'll spend a bundle!

Exactly what does the insurance cover?  Can you really undo the loss of info?  I would think lawsuits?  Doesn't the insurance company hire the lawyer?  Does the insurance just pay for new computers?  Hiring others to prepare your tax returns? Monitoring everyone's credit?  Does the insurance cover all that?  Is there a deductible?

[Lion EA]

I still have 15 big returns on extension, so I'm not pulling my policy out right now. From memory, the insurance reimburses me for expenses incident to a security breach. I don't remember a deductible, but I'm sure there is. The only person I know that's filed a claim is the owner of the first CT CPA firm that was hacked that spoke at NYCTATP and did a webinar for the IRS. His insurance company reimbursed him to his policy maximum, and he was very, very happy about that. He'd changed insurance companies and hadn't remembered that he had cyber coverage and was thrilled that he did.

You can look up the details for the NAEA group plan online or any insurance company's plan that interests you. See if one of your professional groups has a comparison of policies. Do you want to be able to hire your own lawyer or use the insurance company's lawyer, for example?

Nope. You can't undo it. All you can do is cover your out-of-pocket costs of dealing with it so you can spend time calming your clients, hopefully keeping most of your clients, and working through all the paperwork with your clients. The CPA above told us he'd have been out of business without the insurance reimbursement.

[Catherine]

On 8/29/2020 at 4:16 PM, grandmabee said:

What is your coverage limit.  The one my agent wants to add is only 50,000.  that doesn't seem enough with the horror stories out there.

 

Umm... good question.  It's at least $100,000, but I can't put my hands on the more-recent docs just now.