A new survey of insurance specialists across the UK and Ireland reveals a worrying gap in cyber protection, with insurers admitting that only half of their clients have cyber cover, despite attacks costing businesses nearly £90,000 on average.

Arctic Wolf’s 2025 Cyber Insurance Report, based on a poll of 400 brokers and carrier companies worldwide, found that only 50% of insurers’ existing, eligible clients across the UK and Ireland have a cyber policy.

As cyber threats grow more subtle, malicious and costly, those firms without cover could soon regret their decision, with the study finding 70% of UK&I brokers expect the number of new claims against insurance policies to rise over the next year.

Those without insurance risk missing out on other benefits aside from simply coverage. Brokers in the UK&I were found to often partner with cybersecurity providers, with almost a quarter (23%) saying they negotiate pre-arranged insurance benefits for their clients with certain cyber risk management vendors. 

Many also work alongside incident response specialists to help prevent breaches and reduce the likelihood of insurance claims in the first instance.

However, UK businesses are more prepared than those on the other side of the Atlantic. Arctic Wolf found that just 45% of North American companies have cyber insurance, despite being considered the regional leader within the cyber insurance market.  

Globally, the study found an average of 12% of clients made cyber claims in the past year, with insurers citing AI, LLMs, and data privacy as the primary causes of more sophisticated attacks requiring specialist cover.

Ransomware was the most frequent type of claim, with 18% of respondents suggesting their clients have experienced an attack in the last twelve months, followed by data breaches, theft of funds and phishing incidents. 

These are having a significant financial impact, with the average claim totalling £87,000 ($115,000), rising to £633,641 ($812,360) for large businesses.

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Inevitably, escalating losses are leading to hefty premiums, with 66% of insurers stating that client rates increased as a result of them filing a cyber insurance claim, as well as 56% saying they increased scrutiny of their clients during the renewal process.

“As threat tactics evolve, cyber insurance is no longer a ‘nice to have’ but a strategic pillar of modern risk management,” said Kevin Kiser, senior director of strategy, insurance alliances at Arctic Wolf.

“While the insurance industry is working with clients to improve protection, attacks are ultimately costing businesses hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage. 

“Building on this momentum will therefore be critical to businesses not just staying protected, but fully operational in the months and years ahead.”