City of Houston to Purchase $30M in Cyber Insurance

The Houston City Council voted unanimously to purchase $30 million in cyber insurance coverage at a total premium cost of $471,000. The policy provides first-party coverage for the City’s operations, third-party coverage for the City’s liability to others, and coverage for data breach response.

The policy will consist of a primary layer plus two excess layers, totaling $30 million in coverage. Houston is not the first major US city to procure cyber insurance protection, but a survey presented to the City’s Transportation, Technology, and Infrastructure Committee showed that the City of Dallas has $10 million in cyber coverage, while the City of Austin and City of San Antonio have no coverage.

In 2017, SLTX recorded $77.5 million in cyber liability premium, up from $65.8 million in 2016. So far in 2018, nearly $50 million in premium has been reported to SLTX.

Cyber liability insurance has been increasingly popular in recent years as more online threats manifest. While this type of coverage may be available in the admitted market, the excess and surplus lines market has shown that it is readily available to protect against further risk.