Get ready for your cyber insurance renewal.
Insurers now ask detailed questions about your security before they’ll quote, and someone at your firm has to sign that every answer is accurate. A BKY cyber insurance readiness assessment checks what’s really in place, helps you answer each question truthfully, and closes the gaps before your renewal date.
Referred by your broker or accountant? You’re in the right place.
Every question checked
Every question on your application checked against your systems.
A prioritized fix list
A prioritized list of gaps to close before renewal.
Answers you can stand behind
A summary of your answers and the evidence behind them. You review and sign every answer.
What a cyber insurance application actually asks.
Applications vary by insurer, but the same themes come up every year, and each one gets more specific with every renewal. Here’s what to expect.
Your business
The basics come first, and they matter more than they look.
- Revenue, staff count and payroll
- Any significant change in the last 12 months, such as a move, merger or new line of business
- Any incident or circumstance you know of that could lead to a claim
Who can get in
Most applications start with multi-factor authentication, and the questions are specific.
- Multi-factor authentication on email and every remote access path
- Including the remote management tools and VPNs your IT provider uses to reach your systems
- How administrator accounts are separated and protected
Backups
Insurers now ask how backups are built, not just whether they exist.
- Three copies of your data: the original plus two backups
- Backups in two different formats, kept in separate locations
- No single account able to change or delete both backup copies
- Restores that have actually been tested
Detection and response
How quickly you would know about an attack, and what happens next.
- Endpoint detection and response on every device
- Monitoring of sign-ins and alerts, including after hours
- A written incident response plan
Patching and old systems
Unsupported software is one of the most common reasons for a declined or limited policy.
- How quickly security updates are applied
- Any systems past their vendor’s end of support
- Who is responsible for keeping them current
People, payments and vendors
The questions that reach beyond the technology itself.
- Security awareness training for staff
- How payment and banking changes are verified before money moves
- Who your IT provider is, which tools they use, and what your contract says about responsibility
Every application ends with a promise that your answers are accurate.
The person who signs confirms the answers are accurate and complete, and that they checked with the right people. Most applications are written for whoever runs your systems, yet signed by an owner or partner. If an answer turns out to be wrong, it can put a claim at risk at exactly the moment you need it.
Our job is to make sure that what you sign is true, and that you can show why.
BKY completes a renewal application for its own business every year, including the extra questions insurers ask of IT providers. We know what sits behind each question because we answer them too.
- We work from your actual applicationNot a generic checklist. Every insurer words its questions differently.
- Nothing is answered on assumptionEach answer is confirmed against your systems, with the evidence behind it.
- You review and sign every answerThe summary is yours to check before anything goes to your broker.
The work involved, step by step.
A readiness assessment isn’t a form-filling exercise. It’s a check of what’s true today, and a plan for what needs to be true by your renewal date.
- Start with your actual application
Every insurer words its questions differently, so we work from yours, not a generic checklist. Ask your broker for this year’s renewal application and last year’s answers.
- This year’s application
- Last year’s answers
- Current policy
- Check what’s really in place
We review your systems against each question: every account and its sign-in protection, every remote access path, how backups are built and whether they restore, endpoint protection, patch status and administrator access.
- Accounts and MFA
- Remote access tools
- Backup design and a test restore
- Devices and patches
- Admin accounts
- Go through it question by question
Each answer is marked as confirmed, partly true, or not yet true, with the evidence behind it. Nothing is answered “yes” on assumption.
- Confirmed
- Partly true
- Not yet true
- Close the gaps before renewal
You get a plain-language list of what to fix, in order of what the insurer cares about most, with an estimate of the effort for each. We can do the work, or your current provider can.
- Prioritized fix list
- Effort for each item
- Document it, then you sign
You receive a summary of every answer and what supports it, ready for your broker. You review it and sign. If your broker has questions, we’ll talk to them with you.
- Answer summary
- Supporting evidence
- Your signature
After renewal, cybersecurity monitoring keeps your answers true all year, so next year’s application is a confirmation rather than a scramble.
Common questions about readiness assessments.
When should we start?
As early as you can. Some gaps, like a new backup design or replacing an unsupported system, take weeks to close properly. Starting two to three months before renewal leaves room to fix things rather than just describe them.
Will you talk to our broker?
Yes, if you’d like us to. Your broker stays your broker; we help with the technical answers.
What if we can’t fix everything before renewal?
Then the answer reflects where you actually are, and the summary shows what’s already underway. An honest “in progress” is far safer than a “yes” that isn’t true.
Who signs the application?
You do. We document what supports each answer, and you review it before anything goes to your broker.
Start before your renewal date.
Tell us when your renewal is due and we’ll be in touch to schedule. The sooner before renewal, the more time there is to close gaps.
Include your approximate renewal date in your message.