Saga now does cyber crime insurance – but how does it work and it is worth it?
COMPUTER hacking could happen to anyone at anytime - but you can now buy insurance to protect you against dangerous cyber attacks, courtesy of Saga.
The insurance giant for the over-50s says it is the first home insurer to launch this kind of personal cyber crime cover - but is it really worth buying?
Malware and ransomware attacks can steal your personal information, drain your bank accounts, damage your devices and leave you open to identity fraud.
Saga’s Personal Cybercrime cover - which is included in the £30 fixed-price legal expenses add-on to its home insurance policy - says it will reimburse any money stolen from your bank accounts.
It will also restore your devices back to the state they were in before any attack, where possible.
Experts will offer you advice about how to protect yourself against hackers, frauds, and scams, and it will also cover the cost of a 12-month subscription to a credit-monitoring service that can alert you when you are at risk of a cyber attack.
But there are a number of drawbacks. Firstly, you have to be a Saga home insurance customer.
There's no reason to take out a policy with Saga, unless they are really the best deal for you.
Additionally the cover will only protect you and your devices while you are in the UK or in Gibraltar - so if an attack happens while you are on holiday, you won’t recover any costs.
It also won’t protect you if you are attacked after illegally downloading films, movies or music - or any other illicit activity.
Chris King, head of home insurance at Compare the Market, has warned people not to become complacent if they buy the cover, while praising the idea of cyber crime protection.
How to find the cheapest home insurance deal
WHEN it comes to renewing your home insurance, you should always shop around, yet a third of us have never switched, according to Compare the Market.
Use a couple of different comparison sites to see what’s on offer.Compare levels of cover and check the exclusions.
Make sure you get the features you need and don’t pay for unnecessary extras.Some major insurance companies including Direct Line, Aviva and Zurich are not on any comparison sites.
To make sure you get the best deal, check directly with these companies as well.
For more help working out what building and contents cover you need, go to the .
He said: “It’s great to see insurance providers are recognising that cyber crime poses a real threat to consumers and the crisis response, incident management and advice element of Saga’s cyber crime cover extension may prove invaluable to some people.
"That said, having an insurance policy which covers cyber crime shouldn’t lure you into a false sense of security.
"It’s important that consumers educate and protect themselves from cyber crime attacks, ensuring they have complex online passwords and pins that are frequently changed and never give out their bank details over the phone or on unsecure websites.
"These measures need to be ramped up in order for people to lessen the chance of being hacked.
"And if a financial provider has not spotted suspicious activity or has not dealt with fraud to the best of their ability then it is vital that people vote with their feet and move to suppliers with a better client service rating.”
The new cyber crime insurance can’t be bought separately as it is part of its legal expenses add-on.
If you don't want to take out a home insurance policy with Saga, research by comparethemarket.com found that nine out of 26 companies cover damage caused by computer viruses and malware attacks in their home insurance policies.
I've been hacked - what are my rights?
If you have been a victim of cyber crime, then hackers may have access to your personal information, including your bank accounts. Here's what to do:
1. CHECK IF YOU'VE BEEN HACKED: You can use the website to check if any of your email addresses have been breached. If your account details were included in one of those breaches, the site will tell you with the message "oh no – pwned" flashing up on screen.
2. RESET YOUR PASSWORDS: Hackers could have access to your accounts so lock them out again by changing passwords. Make sure they are strong, between eight to 10 random characters, with lower and uppercase letters, numbers and symbols if possible. Try not to use duplicate passwords as if one address has been breached, many accounts could be. You can use a password management tool if, like most people, you struggle to keep track of passwords for multiple accounts. There are dozens to choose from: some are free, while some you have to pay for.
3. CHECK YOUR ACCOUNTS: Look for and log any payments on your accounts that you did not make.
4. CONTACT YOUR BANK: Do this as soon as you think your credit card or bank details may have been compromised. Most banks have a dedicated phone line for reporting fraud.
5. CHASE REIMBURSEMENT: Your bank must automatically reimburse you any funds that have been taken as a result of fraud, unless it can prove you were acting fraudulently or negligently, didn't contact them before 13 months had passed since the incident, or it can prove you authorised the transactions. It must also reimburse any fees incurred as a result of the fraudulent payments. This is also true if you have inadvertently given out your personal details as the target of a scam.
6. IF YOUR BANK DOESN'T REIMBURSE: You must ask for a final letter of deadlock and make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsmen Services, which will make an impartial decision on refunding your cash. You can submit a claim online free on its . If successful, your bank will reimburse you. If not, you can take your claim to court.
7. CONTACT INSURERS: If your home insurance policy covers cyber attacks, contact your insurers to make a claim, if needed.
But unlike Saga, they don't cover financial loss or legal action.
If you have been considering cover for legal expenses, then Saga's add-on may be enticing if you are a customer already.
But if not, then there are some standalone providers of cyber crime insurance, such as Blackfriars' Personal Cyber Crime Insurance and Hiscox.
Even without cyber crime insurance, your bank should refund you immediately if you have been a victim of fraud.
That is, unless it has evidence you authorised any of the transactions, told them after 13 months, or acted fraudulently or negligently.
You could also put in place extra security measures, such as keeping your software regularly updated, backing up your files, using strong passwords, and never giving out your personal details to cold callers or potential scammers pretending to be from your bank.
Cyber attacks are a serious threat in the UK, with more than £2 billion stolen from people’s bank and credit card accounts in the last year, according to money comparison website comparethemarket.com.
That’s an average of £333 per person, which has risen by 38 per cent (£233) since last year, it reports.
One in 10 people have now been victims of debit and credit card fraud - about 4.7 million people in the UK, comparethemarket.com says.
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