Most SaaS companies buy cyber insurance the same way they buy any other business insurance — they call a broker, get a couple of quotes, pick the cheapest one, and move on. That works fine for general liability. For cyber it leaves serious gaps.
Here are the ten questions worth asking before you sign anything.
01
Does the policy pay ransomware on my behalf or require reimbursement?
Pay-on-behalf means the carrier fronts the ransom. Reimbursement means you do. For most small SaaS companies this is the most important coverage distinction.
02
Is this carrier admitted or non-admitted in my state?
Admitted carriers are backed by state guaranty funds. Non-admitted aren't — but often offer broader coverage at lower prices. Know which you're buying.
03
Does the policy cover dependent business interruption from third-party cloud providers?
If AWS, Azure, or your hosting provider goes down and you lose revenue, does your policy respond? Not all do. Critical for cloud-dependent SaaS.
04
What's the business interruption waiting period?
Most policies have an 8-hour waiting period before BI coverage kicks in. Some have longer. Know your threshold.
05
Is breach response coverage inside or outside the policy limit?
Some carriers pay breach response costs outside your $1M limit — meaning a major incident doesn't eat into your liability coverage. Others don't.
06
Does the policy cover social engineering and invoice manipulation?
Business email compromise is one of the most common cyber claims. If a fraudulent invoice fools your finance team, does your policy respond?
07
What proactive security services are included?
Some carriers include security monitoring, pre-claim assistance, and expert access at no extra cost. Others include nothing. The value difference is real.
08
What's the carrier's actual claims reputation?
A policy is only as good as the carrier's willingness to pay. Ask your broker about claims handling reputation, not just the price.
09
Are all of my employees covered, including remote workers using personal devices?
BYOD coverage extends your policy to employee-owned devices used for work. Increasingly important for distributed SaaS teams.
10
Am I comparing this against what else is available in the market?
The price spread across cyber carriers for the same coverage can be over 150%. If you only saw one or two quotes, you may not have the best option.
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