Cyber Insurance Without an Incident Response Plan? A Recipe for Denied Claims

When it comes to cyber insurance, most organizations think of it as a financial safety net. Pay the premiums, check the box, and you’re covered when the worst happens, right?

Not exactly. 

A cyber insurance policy is only as good as the plan you have to activate it. And if your incident response strategy doesn’t fully integrate your insurer’s requirements, you may discover too late that your “safety net” has holes.

Avoiding a Claims Denial

Cyber insurers aren’t just handing out checks after a breach. Policies often contain strict requirements, from notification windows to approved vendor lists, to very specific policy triggers.

Miss a step, and your claim could be reduced or denied. 

The biggest mistake organizations can make is treating their incident response plan as a purely technical exercise, when in reality, it needs to be aligned with both legal and insurance obligations.

The First 24 Hours Matter Most

The actions you take in the first 24 hours after an incident can make or break your coverage. The top steps to take include:

• Notify your cyber insurance carrier immediately
• Contact breach counsel
• Engage your approved DFIR team 
• Preserve logs and isolate impacted systems
• Document every decision and communication (under privilege!)

Miss even one of these, and you could be paying for coverage that doesn’t protect you when it matters most.

Building an Insurance-ready IR Plan

The good news is that, with preparation, you can avoid these pitfalls. Here are a few practical steps you can take:

• Pre-assign breach counsel and forensics partners 
• Run tabletop exercises before an incident happens, and make sure those exercises include legal and insurance representatives 
• Treat your IR plan like a legal document, not just a technical playbook

Get the Full Guide

Cyber insurance is a safety net, but lack of planning and preparation is also required. It will ensure that your insurance policy meets your needs, and you know required steps to ensure full coverage, protection, and recovery. The smartest organizations treat insurance as part of resilience, not just a fallback plan. 

This blog only scratches the surface of what a CEO needs to know. Read our whitepaper, Cyber Insurance & Legal Strategy: A CEO’s Guide to Getting It Right, for:

• A detailed 24-hour breach response checklist
• The most common mistakes that void coverage
• Smart questions every CEO should ask their carrier