The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) has extended its risk protection coverage for schools to include cyber incidents.
It has added the element to its risk protection arrangement (RPA), which was introduced in 2014 as an alternative to commercial insurance, and which more than 40% of all eligible schools have so far joined.
This follows the completion of an RPA cyber risk pilot run with the Department for Education (DfE) to shape the operational scope of the cover.
From September of this year, cyber cover for all RPA members will include the increased cost of working for up to 90 days, an incident response service, a dedicated cyber incident breach response hotline and email, and restoration, remediation and ongoing monitoring for cyber incidents.
GAD has carried out risk modelling to estimate how many schools would be affected by a cyber incident and the cost of coverage and has added this to the price of membership.
Pricing approach
Liam Daly, who led the modelling while on secondment from the DfE, said: “Now the cover has been launched, we’ll make sure the price addition is in line with the claims that we’re seeing.
“This is an important development because schools are especially vulnerable to cyber risk, and many can’t get commercial cover. Schools will have support to respond to incidents quickly and reduce their impact.”
