Insurance Coverage for Data Breach Claims

Data breaches caused by hackers or other forces outside the control of a business are a scary and expensive proposition for any organization that collects or retains personally identifiable information, or warehouses credit or financial information. This article examines insurance coverage for data breaches under various policies, including CGL coverage, property insurance coverage, other standard lines of coverage, and coverage under specialty policies. The article discusses that it is essential for an insured to consider all forms of insurance that it carries and to provide prompt notice to its insurer(s) of any policy that even potentially could apply any time a potential data breach occurs.