HowyGuardWho should fill out and sign the cyber insurance application?
A senior person at the business signs it, usually the owner, a partner or a director. Many forms say the signer must have made reasonable inquiry, meaning they asked the people who would know. Your IT provider can help gather the answers, but the business signs them and owns them.
What do forms say about who signs?
Each form handles it a little differently, so check the signature block on yours. For everything above the signature, see the checklist.
Some forms want someone senior and define who counts, often called the control group: principals, partners, officers, directors, risk managers and anyone in a similar position. In a small business, that's usually the owner.
Other forms let a wider group sign, including an authorized employee, but attach a promise to the signature: that reasonable inquiry was made and the answers are true, correct and complete to the best of the signer's knowledge.
Some insurers have you sign electronically once a quote is accepted, on an application filled in from the answers you gave. Either way, what you answered becomes what you sign.
Can your IT provider fill it in?
They can help a lot, and on the technical questions they may know more than you. Reasonable inquiry means asking exactly those people. But an outside IT company isn't usually among the people allowed to sign, and many forms say the application must be signed by the applicant.
So the split that works is this. Your IT provider answers the technical questions in writing, with screenshots where they can. You read each answer against the question's exact wording, ask about anything that sounds like "mostly", and sign once you're satisfied it's true. How to check the answer to a question has a list of what to ask them.
HowyGuard works the same way. We help you check your answers against your setup, and we never sign a form for anyone.
What are you promising when you sign?
That the answers are accurate and complete, and that you asked the right people. If an answer turns out not to be true, the signature is what makes it the business's problem. What happens if you answer wrong covers what forms say can follow.
What to do next
- Decide who at the business will sign, and make sure they read the whole form before they do.
- Get the technical answers in writing from whoever manages your IT, and check each one against the exact wording before anyone signs.
Common questions
Can I skip questions I don't understand?
Not safely. Even questions marked optional may be required before an insurer will quote. If a question makes no sense to you, find out what it means before you answer it or leave it out.
Does signing the application mean I've bought the policy?
Not usually. Many forms say signing doesn't bind either side to complete the insurance. Check the wording on yours.
Can my office manager sign instead of me?
It depends on the form. Some allow an authorized employee, and others require a principal or director. Either way, the answers belong to the business, so whoever signs needs to have checked them.