Cyber Insurance vs. General Liability: What’s the Difference?

The policies address different kinds of risk. Cyber coverage may pay defined incident-response costs and address liability claims tied to a covered security or privacy event. A commercial general-liability policy is not a substitute for cyber coverage simply because a lawsuit follows an incident; its insuring agreements and exclusions govern. Chubb notes that traditional policies may be inadequate for cyber exposures, while FTC guidance recommends checking cyber coverage directly.

Review the actual general-liability policy for electronic data, privacy, and cyber exclusions, then compare the cyber form’s covered events and third-party liability section. Check whether bodily injury or tangible property damage caused by a cyber event is treated differently. Also inspect other-insurance clauses and any cyber endorsement on the liability policy. The policy wording—not the line name—determines which insurer responds to a particular claim.