Upcover partners with Coalition to continue to transform how Australian businesses access cyber insurance

In a move to revolutionise cybersecurity insurance accessibility for Australian businesses, Upcover has partnered with Coalition to launch Australia's first self-serve digital insurance distribution platform for Upcover’s customers. 

On the digital insurance distribution platform, Upcover will offer businesses tailored cyber insurance coverage aimed at reducing the time it takes to purchase a policy to minutes, not days, weeks or months.

This comes as small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Australia are exposing themselves to greater risk of a breach by underinvesting in cybersecurity. Recent research from Business NSW found that 22 per cent of small businesses and 15 per cent of medium businesses plan to reduce spending on cybersecurity management. Further to this, data from the Insurance Council of Australia suggests that only up to 20 per cent of SMBs have cyber insurance. Recent research from Coalition found that the majority (64 per cent) of SMBs feel they are too small to be targeted by cyber criminals. 

Meanwhile, cyber crime persists as a significant risk to Australian businesses. Self-reported data, referenced in the latest Australian Signals Directorate annual report, found that a cyber incident costs small businesses an average of $49,600 to remedy. Medium and large businesses reported that it cost them around $63,000 per incident. 

“Cybersecurity is a significant risk for Australian businesses, and it isn’t going away any time soon. Through this partnership and Upcover’s digital platform, we’re looking to reduce the complexity involved with attaining coverage for this kind of incident,” Skye Theodorou, co-founder and CEO of Upcover, said.

“This builds on our existing cybersecurity offering, further reducing the complexity commonly seen with attaining this kind of coverage. We’re also automating what has historically been a manual process that typically requires a lot of back and forth and can span for months, so that our specialty lines broking team can place cyber insurance for high limits and any business with a range of market-leading insurance partners. 

“While it makes sense for all businesses to insure themselves against cyber crime, we’re aiming this product at those in Financial Services and the Allied Health industries who generally have the most to lose from a cyber attack, given the sensitive nature of the information they deal with.”

“Upcover’s digital-first insurance distribution platform enables us to continue protecting the unprotected,” said Trent Nihill, Head of Underwriting at Coalition Australia. “Many small and medium businesses in Australia still do not purchase cyber insurance. By using Upcover's streamlined platform, customers can now rapidly quote and bind Coalition’s unique Active Cyber Insurance online.”

Cyber insurance is one of several new products Upcover aims to offer in 2025, expanding its offering to over 60,000 businesses already leveraging its platform. Due to its simplicity and competitive pricing, one in three businesses today that attain a business insurance quote on the Upcover platform proceed to become a policyholder.