Cowbell Cyber launches $15mn limits program with Obsidian and Benchmark

AI-driven cyber insurtech Cowbell Cyber has unveiled a program called Prime 250 that offers 25 coverages in three packages on the paper of hybrid fronting carriers Obsidian Insurance Company and Benchmark Insurance Company with a panel of global reinsurers behind them.

The Pleasanton, California-based firm, which describes itself as the industry’s first AI-powered cyber insurance provider for small to mid-sized businesses, said that the offering addresses the need for clarity, simplicity, speed and flexibility.

The admitted program provides cyber policies with limits topping out at $15mn for businesses with up to $250mn in revenue.

At launch Prime 250 is going live in 12 states and has filed in a total of 33 states between the two fronting carriers. Obsidian and Benchmark are expected to retain a portion of the risk before ceding the majority to their respective reinsurance panels.

Cowbell Cyber said Prime 250 is the first cyber insurance program aimed at delivering a set of coverages that address the diverse range of cyber incidents that can hit businesses.

The company said that with the number and type of cyberattacks skyrocketing, businesses now need coverages for protection from network intrusion to ransomware, and everything in between.

However, it noted that, according to a survey from Advisen, the top three obstacles to businesses buying cyber cover remain not understanding exposures, not understanding coverage, and cost.

The standalone offering from Cowbell Cyber provides clarity of coverage, with 25 specific coverages organized to reflect the way businesses experience cyber incidents, with first party loss, first party expense and liability.

Custom packages

The customizable Prime 250 program provides three levels of pre-configured industry-specific coverage packages: basic, popular and elite.

The approach helps maintain simplicity for buyers and speed in the quoting and binding process, with agents and brokers able to tailor to each policyholder’s risk appetite in a few clicks, said the firm.

It also provides transparency, with policyholders given access to so-called Cowbell Factors for risk rating and industry peer benchmarking, while Cowbell Insights provides recommendations to remediate risk exposures identified by the process.

Policyholders and agents can access the Cowbell Factors that drive the underwriting process in real-time.

The underwriting process takes 400 data points and security observations collected about each policyholder in addition to the class of business and company size using inside-out and outside-in data.

The Cowbell Factors and Insights are continuously updated.

First party expense coverages include the so-called Cowbell Breach Fund, extortion costs, data restoration, business impersonation costs and reputational harm expense.

First party loss coverages indemnity against cyber crime loss, business interruption loss, contingent business interruption loss, system failure contingent business interruption loss, bricking costs, cryptojacking, criminal reward costs and utility fraud attack.

And the program can also provide coverage for liability expenses, including liability costs, PCI costs, regulatory costs, CCPA costs, GDPR costs, media liability and contingent bodily injury and property damage.

Simplification and transparency

Commenting on the launch, Cowbell Cyber co-founder and COO Trent Cooksley said: “We have created Prime 250 with the explicit intent to make cyber insurance easy and bring clarity to coverages and policy terms so that every business can benefit from the financial protection delivered by cyber insurance.”

The firm’s MGA, Cowbell Insurance Agency, is currently licensed in 33 US states. It will write the new program on the AM Best A rated paper of recently floated Trean’s Benchmark Insurance Company, and the AM Best A- paper of Genstar-backed start-up Obsidian Insurance Company.

The program is the first in cyber for both fronting carriers.

Bill Jewett, CEO of Obsidian, said: “We have been focused on this initiative for many months and are very pleased to be part of their market expansion efforts. It fits very well with Obsidian’s strategic focus on the establishment of long-term, stable, and profitable partnerships.”

His colleague Craig Rappaport, COO and CFO at Obsidian, added: “The launch of the Prime 250 product offering to the market is well timed as businesses need coverages to protect against growing cyber risks ranging from network intrusion to ransomware. Cowbell’s approach is unique, technology enabled, and fully supported by Obsidian’s business model that brings stable efficient support to top MGAs and aggregators.”