Your Cyber Insurance Will Not Pay Out. Here Is Why — and What to Do Before Renewal.

as these are often subjective and can be points of contention.

Implement a robust patching schedule and ensure all critical systems are updated promptly. For instance, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) Ireland consistently advises on the importance of timely patching to mitigate risks from known vulnerabilities ¹. Document your patching process meticulously; this evidence will be invaluable if you ever need to make a claim.

Prioritise the deployment of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) across your entire organisation. This single control can prevent a vast majority of account takeover attacks. Ensure your employees are trained on its use and understand its importance. For more insights, explore our glossary of cybersecurity terms.

Finally, schedule a dedicated meeting with your insurance broker well in advance of your renewal date. Present them with your current security posture and any improvements you've made. Ask them to walk you through potential scenarios where a claim might be denied and what steps you can take to prevent such outcomes. This proactive dialogue is your best defence against future disappointment.

Key Takeaways for Irish SMEs

Understanding why cyber insurance claims get denied is the first step to ensuring yours does not. The pattern is clear across Irish cases:

1. Failure to maintain basic controls: Insurers expect you to uphold the security standards you declared on your application. If you said you had MFA deployed and you did not, your claim will be denied.

2. Late notification: Most policies require you to notify your insurer within 24 to 72 hours of discovering an incident. Miss this window and you risk voiding your cover entirely.

3. Inadequate documentation: You need evidence that you maintained the controls you claimed. Patching logs, MFA deployment records, training completion certificates, and incident response test results are all critical evidence.

4. Policy exclusions you did not read: War exclusions, nation-state attack exclusions, and social engineering exclusions are common in cyber policies. If you have not read your policy's exclusion clauses, you do not know what you are actually covered for.

5. Failure to follow your own policies: If you have a documented incident response plan but did not follow it during an actual incident, your insurer may argue that you contributed to the loss through negligence.

The bottom line: cyber insurance is not a substitute for cybersecurity. It is a financial backstop that only works if you have done the groundwork first. For a detailed guide on what to ask your broker, read our Cyber Insurance Broker Checklist.

Related Reading

• Cyber Insurance for Donegal and Sligo SMEs: What Local Businesses Need to Know.
• The Cyber Insurance Gap: Why Most Irish SMEs Are Underinsured and Don't Know It.
• First-Party vs Third-Party Cyber Insurance: What Every Irish SME Director Needs to Understand.

Ready to find out exactly where your business stands? Book a free 20-minute strategy call with our vCISO team at pragmaticsecurity.ie/book-a-call. No sales pitch. No jargon. Just clarity on your cyber risk — and a clear plan to address it.