Cyber Insurance Cost Calculator 2025/26

A typical cyber insurance policy covers: first-party costs (incident response, forensic investigation, data recovery, business interruption losses, ransomware negotiation and payment if applicable); third-party liability (legal costs and compensation if customer data is compromised); regulatory defence (ICO investigation costs, though not the fine itself); and crisis communications (PR costs to manage reputational damage). Some policies also cover social engineering/phishing fraud.

No — UK cyber insurance policies explicitly exclude coverage for ICO regulatory fines and penalties, as these are non-insurable under UK law (insuring against regulatory fines would undermine the deterrent effect of the regulation). However, cyber policies typically do cover the legal defence costs of an ICO investigation, the forensic costs of investigating the breach, notification costs and third-party liability claims from affected individuals.

For most UK businesses holding customer data or relying on IT systems, cyber insurance is increasingly worthwhile. The average cost of a small business cyber incident in the UK is £8,100 (DCMS Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024). For a premium of £500-1,500/year, policies covering up to £1M in incident response and liability costs provide significant protection. Insurers also increasingly require businesses to implement basic cyber hygiene (MFA, patching) as a condition of cover — which itself reduces incident likelihood.