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Courts Strictly Construing Cyber Insurance Policies, Finding Coverage Is Narrow

By Ella Shenhav and Eric S. Adams
November 01, 2022

In several recent cases, companies with cyber insurance discovered that provisions in these policies led their insurers to limit coverage. Courts have been strictly construing cyber policies, and have found that the coverage provided is narrow. These decisions hinged upon whether an event constituted a covered "direct" loss and whether intervening actions precluded coverage, like an employee responding to fraudulent communications.

In February 2021, a Texas federal court determined that a payment processor for rental property management companies was not covered for losses from a phishing event. See, RealPage v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Case No. 3:19-cv-1350-B, United States District Court, Northern District of Texas (Feb. 24, 2021). Hackers used a fishing scam to gain access to funds held by RealPage's third-party payment processor, Stripe. RealPage made a business decision to reimburse its clients. The policy required that RealPage "hold" funds as a prerequisite to coverage for any funds stolen through cyber fraud. The insurer denied the claim because, while RealPage could direct the transfer of those funds in the Stripe accounts, RealPage never "held" the funds that were lost.

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