What Cyber Insurers Now Require Before They'll Renew Your Policy

The questionnaire is now an audit

A few years ago, cyber-insurance renewal was a one-page form. Today it is a detailed control attestation, and getting an answer wrong is not just a higher premium — it can void a claim. Insurers have learned which controls actually prevent payouts, and they now price (or decline) accordingly.

The five controls that decide your renewal

1. MFA everywhere — especially on email, VPN, and any remote or privileged access. This is now table stakes; many carriers will not quote without it.

1. Endpoint detection and response (EDR/MDR) with 24/7 monitoring, not just antivirus.

1. Immutable, tested backups — and evidence that you have actually restored from them.

1. Email filtering and security-awareness training, because business email compromise drives the majority of claims.

1. A written, exercised incident response plan — the tabletop notes matter as much as the document.

Attesting accurately is the whole game

The risk is not only being underinsured — it is attesting to a control you cannot actually evidence, then having a claim denied because the control was not in place. The fix is a living control-evidence library, the same approach we describe in our ransomware audit briefing.

How an MSP closes the gap

We map your environment to the carrier's requirements, implement what is missing, and maintain the evidence so you can attest with confidence. Start with our free Security Risk Assessment, or see the full managed security and compliance program.