When BOXX Insurance set out to create a new Technology E&O product, their team did so with one goal in mind - to create a more digitally safe world for tech companies of all sizes.
This new coverage was built for tech companies of all sizes, ranging from startups, to mid-sized companies and enterprises, spanning within SaaS, AI, digital infrastructure and traditional software, who need E&O coverage that keeps pace with their clients' innovation and the tech world overall.
“Traditional E&O wasn’t designed for how companies operate today and it was never built for today’s reality of algorithmic biases, data poisoning or technology discrimination,” said Phil Baker, chief underwriting officer at BOXX Insurance.
And as the team dug deeper into current market offerings, gaps in coverage became apparent. As Head of products Erik Tifft told IB, traditional forms of Tech E&O coverage don't always keep up with the constantly evolving language and technology of today. As such, BOXX made a concerted effort to explicitly cover certain risks that they know are critically important to tech companies.
“Artificial intelligence, large language models, things of that nature,” revealed Tifft. “Tech E&O by BOXX spelled out coverage for those new technology exposures which are becoming a ubiquitous part of the insured’s day-to-day activities. We thought that was important.”
However, Tifft and his team of experts also saw some issues arising from these new models. Historically, there have been claims around discrimination laws regarding accessibility of websites - something that’s only intensified with the advent of AI.
“Artificial intelligence has been accused of applying criteria, selecting for and against people, in a way that would be discriminatory in the eyes of the law,” added Tifft. “We created a coverage called Technology Discrimination Liability to address that - it's a new coverage that addresses the algorithmic biases we're seeing crop up with the use of AI models. [At BOXX], we’re an innovator in that area - and that's something we want to hang our hat on.”
It's this Technology Discrimination Liability that really sets BOXX apart for the crowded market. Currently, there’s a huge gap in coverage here - one that is leaving companies wide open to lawsuits in the digital age.
“Disability claims regarding the accessibility of a website have been relatively minor historically,” added Tifft. “But with the rapid deployment of AI across every sphere of industry, it's become a very obvious concern. Tech companies need some element of coverage - they need an insurer who's able to give them a backstop even if they've done everything right and they're still hit with a claim."
“BOXX’s motto is predict, prevent and insure. It's obvious there's exposure - we predicted it. We're aiming to prevent it by how we're underwriting and challenging our insureds to think about this exposure - making sure they have a process in place when they're putting these algorithms together. And, of course, we’re insuring them if the worst happens.”
Because technology is evolving at an exponential pace, organizations need their errors and omissions coverage to evolve alongside it. With BOXX, their team of industry experts takes steps to ensure their coverage mitigates and manages any potential E&O exposures proactively.
“These companies are operating in good faith,” added Tifft. “We want to offer them coverage for that exposure in case something does go wrong. We also recognize that in the cyber extortion area, there are new issues arising. It’s not just about data being encrypted or stolen, there’s threat actors who’re corrupting data sets in unknown ways, using the payment to get details of how the data has been manipulated. As such, we added affirmative coverage for this data poisoning as well.”
And, with AI and blockchain rapidly reshaping industry norms, Tifft believes all of this evolution must be continuous and not just occasional.
“Blockchain is firmly covered in our Tech E&O form along with the Internet of Things and some other [issues] that are top of people's minds in this day and age. As we all know, tech has changed dramatically - the nature of cyber exposures has changed in the last 10 years. So it's important as an insurer to pay attention to what's happening and address those changes in our policy wording.”
At its core, this new coverage addresses one very key point - businesses don’t want guesswork, they want specificity and precision.
“Insureds want the comfort of seeing what they’re doing addressed specifically in the product,” added Tifft. “We’re open about what we’re covering and how we're covering it by using wording that addresses these things.”
Another key differentiator lies in BOXX’s direct connection to the cybersecurity and IT communities - gaining insights ahead of broader industry awareness. Here, instead of waiting for claims trends to surface, BOXX listens to the experts building and protecting today’s technologies and takes a lead from them.
Importantly, this coverage isn’t just for SMEs - it’s for technology company of all sizes that are seeking coverage. And, with the US tech start-up space only continuing to thrive, this type of support can’t come soon enough.
“We’ve built this policy from the ground up, addressing gaps, reducing exclusions and broadening triggers,” said Tifft. “Tech E&O by BOXX is the complete package that Brokers have been waiting for as it provides a complete approach to managing evolving digital risks.”
There’s no ambiguity or coverage gaps for companies built with traditional and emerging tech with coverages like:
Tech E&O by BOXX offers a closer alignment between tech E&O wording, cyber infrastructure and ongoing risk services that will appeal to tech companies and brokers looking for alternatives to more restrictive legacy forms.
This article was created in partnership with BOXX Insurance.
