October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, a great time to remind your clients that social engineering fraud is a rapidly growing cyber threat. Many assume such fraud is covered by cyber insurance, but it’s not always that simple. Learn how to comprehensively protect your clients.

In an increasingly connected world, many cyber insurers are reporting a significant increase in social engineering claims — particularly at organizations involved in real estate and other financial services. That means retail agents and their insureds can expect to see some changes in the marketplace. As social engineering scams increase, some insurers are reducing cybercrime limits, raising premiums for cybercrime coverage, requiring policyholders to take risk mitigation steps or withdrawing from covering cybercrime altogether.

Financial institutions have rebounded and are stronger overall since the subprime loan crisis more than a decade ago, and nonbank lending has emerged as a high-growth business. Even though capacity for financial institution risks remains plentiful, some insurers have become more conservative in their appetites for certain classes and sizes of business. While certain accounts are seeing higher premiums rise due to increased exposure, some new market entrants are pricing accounts aggressively low. What does all this mean for retail agents? Financial institution clients need help to navigate a complex marketplace to obtain the best coverages and pricing.