Renewal forms have changed. Insurers now ask specific technical questions and price the policy, or decline it, on the answers. These are the seven that come up on almost every Australian renewal. Work through them with whoever looks after your IT before the form arrives.
The checklist
If you cannot answer three or more of these, renewal is the wrong time to find out.
The first question on most forms and the one most often answered wrongly. Every account means every account, including shared mailboxes, admin logins and the remote access your IT provider uses.
Having backups is not the question. Restoring from them, on a date you can name, is. Insurers want a copy an attacker with your admin password could not delete.
Antivirus is no longer enough for most policies. Managed detection and response with human analysts is becoming the expected answer, with response times you can put in writing.
Most forms ask for a number of days. If the honest answer is "when someone remembers", write that down now and fix it before renewal, because it is the cheapest item on this list.
Insurers look for separate admin accounts used only when needed. A director who is a global admin on the account they read email from is the example they are hoping not to find.
A date and a result. Once a year with a recorded completion rate satisfies most policies. "We send reminders" does not.
One page is enough: who to call, what to switch off, who talks to clients. The insurer wants to see it existed before the incident, and that someone other than the IT provider knows where it is.
Why it matters now
Two identical businesses can pay very different premiums, or one can be declined, on the strength of these seven answers.
If the form said MFA was on everywhere and the breach came through an account without it, the claim is at risk.
MFA, tested backups, patching cadence and a one page response plan cost far less than one declined claim.
What REDD does with the answers
Twenty minutes with a REDD engineer going through your actual form. Where you would fail today, what to fix first, and what it costs.
The 3am answer. A live Brisbane Security Operations Centre with human analysts, written response times.
Most insurer questions map to Essential Eight controls. Assess where you sit and close the gaps with evidence.
Common questions
Yes. Download the PDF here with no form, or ask for the walkthrough and a REDD engineer will go through your renewal form with you. The findings are yours either way.
The wording varies, but these seven appear in some form on renewal questionnaires from the major Australian cyber insurers and brokers. If yours asks something else, send it through and we will answer it with you.
Most businesses cannot at first. The point is to know before the form arrives, fix the cheap ones, and answer the rest honestly. Insurers respond far better to a plan than to a surprise.
No. It is practical security guidance from an ISO 27001 certified managed IT and cyber security provider in Brisbane. Your broker or insurer decides cover and premium.
A REDD engineer will go through your renewal form with you, show you where you would fail today, and price the fixes so you can decide before you sign. Twenty minutes, no obligation.
Get in touch
Send the basics and a REDD engineer will come back to you within one business day. Prefer to talk? Call 1300 697 333.