Zurich and Crawford ink global partnership to support clients as loss of income and impact on business brand through cyber risk increases

Zurich Global Corporate Partners has partnered with Crawford & Company to provide a suite of support capabilities in the battle against cyber security breaches.

Crawford has been chosen by Zurich Global Corporate UK Limited to deliver the event and claims management support for the insurer’s cyber security and privacy protection program.

The service model of Crawford now forms part of Zurich’s “Digital Resolve” cyber response. Zurich’s corporate customers will get event management support on a global basis including a single point of first notification, triage and event management services.

Through Crawford Global Technical Services, Zurich customers will also be given access to support in areas such as legal, cyber extortion, public relations, forensic investigation, credit monitoring and forensic accountancy.

Ponemon Institute’s 2014 Cost of Data Breach Study found that 43% of the costs associated with an average data breach at a typical UK company are historically uninsured.

Benedict Burke, senior vice president, global client development, Crawford & Company says the loss of income and significant impact on business brand from cyber risk has become a stark reality in recent years.

“Several high profile incidents have brought home the genuine nature of exposure, which has especially affected sectors like retail, financial services, energy and utilities.

“There is a clear need for corporates in these sectors and others to understand and take steps towards re-engineering their cyber resilience strategies,” he says.

Burke says the chief outputs of the partnership will be the minimisation of the impact of a cyber-related event on Zurich customers’ business operations and brand reputation.

“It is Crawford’s intention to maintain a position at the forefront of innovation in claims solutions and our collaboration with Zurich on their Security and Privacy Protection product is the latest example of this,” adds Burke.

Vinicio Cellerini, CEO, Zurich Global Corporate UK, says the agreement with Crawford enables Zurich “to deliver innovative strategic value added services to assist our corporate clients”.

“This product will jointly provide a compelling and ground breaking way of providing an integrated service for this emerging risk that is at the forefront of many corporate clients,” adds Cellerini.