The process of assessing the risk of technology companies – sounds complicated but is it really?
Despite the economic crisis in many countries around the world, the IT industry is doing great and is constantly growing in strength. New technologies and communication create unlimited opportunities for cooperation with customers around the world. In the era of remote work, contracts signed with companies from all over the world are becoming an everyday reality and testify to the ‘mobility’ of the IT market.
The activity of technology companies on international markets
When starting cooperation with a foreign company, it is worth paying attention to the contractual requirements and the responsibility that appears in the contract. The standard is that companies from Western Europe, Asia (not to mention the US and Canadian markets) require professional liability insurance in an international standard (Professional Indemnity Insurance), covering contractual liability, pure financial losses and, increasingly, civil liability insurance for cyber incidents caused.
Fulfilling contract requirements and offers of local insurers
More and more technology companies are looking for an Insurance partner whose policy guarantees full risk coverage. Due to the growing interest in insurance for the technology industry, many insurers began to offer professional liability insurance with the extension of cyber protection. Often, the risk assessment process is very time-consuming and complicated. Many insurers use forms with standard questions, which are usually not tailored to the type of services that the IT company provides. Regardless of whether the company offers solutions in the SaaS model or whether it provides 100% outsourcing services, insurers send their potential customers the same form, although the potential risk from the insurer’s point of view, as well as the questions in it, should vary significantly.
How does Findia work?
Findia strives to go with the spirit of technology and creates solutions that are customer-friendly, and the process itself is very transparent and simple.
Regardless of whether the client comes to us through the Brokerage Office or directly, he goes through the same 3-stage risk assessment process.
A thorough understanding of the IT company’s activities
The role of the Insurer and the entities acting on their behalf is to understand the risks that they want to cover under the insurance policy. In the first stage, you should understand exactly what the technology company really does, what challenges it has, and what kind of services it offers to its clients. On this basis, a dedicated risk assessment form is created in our system with questions tailored to the field that the IT company deals with. We focus on the security of the data entrusted to us – we offer our clients an individual system based on the team’s competencies and advanced IT tools. The form can only be accessed via an active link with a time-limited availability.
Data analysis and deepening knowledge about the client
We know how complex processes are handled by technology companies. Sometimes it happens that after completing the answer in the form, additional questions or doubts arise.
That is why we sometimes ask the client to clarify the information provided to us. The best way to quickly obtain information from the client is a short online meeting, which allows us to clarify the key areas from the insurer’s point of view. We have had hundreds of meetings with clients from various industries, which means that we have a good understanding of the IT industry, thanks to which we can realistically assess the potential risk.
An offer or a set of recommendations to improve the company’s security
Having more complete information about the client, we decide whether and under what conditions we will present an offer. Sometimes it happens that the client does not ‘pass’ our risk assessment process positively and unfortunately, we are not able to offer an insurance offer. Then we try to present the client with recommendations that can improve the level of his security, which in the future may translate into obtaining an offer.
For insurers, it is crucial that companies take a proper approach to properly securing their infrastructure, as well as the infrastructure/data/systems of customers with whom they cooperate and for which they take responsibility.
From year to year, insurers raise the bar regarding the requirements that must be met to obtain such an offer, but our approach based on many years of experience makes the whole process simpler and more understandable for clients, and the insurance itself (most importantly) – meets their needs and the needs of clients with whom they cooperate.