Question 1

Why isn't this covered by my homeowners policy?

Accepted Answer

Standard homeowners typically includes minimal identity theft coverage as a small endorsement — often $25K–$50K limit covering basic restoration costs but excluding cyber extortion, social engineering fraud, and the broader exposures wealthy families face. High-net-worth families face six- and seven-figure fraud attempts that quickly exceed standard coverage. Dedicated personal cyber and identity coverage with $1M+ limits and broader trigger conditions is the right architecture for serious high-net-worth protection.

Question 2

What's social engineering fraud?

Accepted Answer

Social engineering fraud is when criminals trick family members into transferring money or revealing credentials — fake calls from 'banks,' 'lawyers,' or 'family members in trouble' that sound legitimate. Romance scams targeting widowed seniors, fake real estate closing wire fraud targeting buyers, and 'CEO fraud' targeting family office staff all fall in this category. Standard cyber policies often exclude social engineering on grounds that the victim 'voluntarily transferred' money. Dedicated personal cyber coverage typically includes social engineering — essential coverage for Florida's vulnerable senior demographic.

Question 3

Does this cover children's online accounts?

Accepted Answer

Most modern personal cyber policies extend to all named insureds and household members, including children with social media accounts, gaming accounts, and online presence. Coverage typically extends to cyberbullying-related expenses (counseling, school transitions, legal fees), online reputation restoration, and cyber stalking response. Florida families with multiple children using social media benefit dramatically from this expanded coverage — the rate of teen cyberbullying claims has grown sharply in recent years.

Question 4

What about cyber extortion and ransomware on personal devices?

Accepted Answer

Personal cyber coverage typically includes ransomware demands targeting personal devices, family computers, and home networks. Coverage pays for the ransom (within OFAC sanctions limits), forensic recovery of encrypted data, and restoration services. Florida high-net-worth families increasingly face ransomware targeting home networks, smart-home systems, and personal cloud storage. Coverage typically includes 24/7 incident response hotlines staffed by breach coaches who manage the response.

Question 5

How does identity restoration work?

Accepted Answer

Identity restoration services include dedicated restoration specialists who handle the time-consuming process of restoring your identity after fraud: contacting credit bureaus to place fraud alerts and freezes, working with banks and credit card companies to close compromised accounts, filing police reports and FTC complaints, dealing with debt collectors pursuing fraudulent accounts, and monitoring credit reports for ongoing fraud. The personal time required can easily exceed 100 hours; restoration services handle most of this on the family's behalf.

Question 6

What's not covered?

Accepted Answer

Most policies exclude business-related cyber events (need separate commercial cyber), pre-existing fraud at policy inception, criminal acts by named insureds, undisclosed prior cyber events, and gradual identity erosion without specific fraud trigger. Some policies exclude cryptocurrency-related fraud (high-risk emerging area). Wire fraud during real estate transactions is sometimes excluded or sublimited — verify coverage if engaged in active real estate transactions.

Question 7

How is personal cyber and identity coverage priced?

Accepted Answer

Personal cyber coverage is typically priced as an endorsement to high-net-worth homeowners ($150–$500/year for $1M coverage) or as a standalone policy ($300–$1,500/year for $1M+ coverage). Florida pricing reflects the state's high fraud activity but isn't dramatically loaded versus national averages. Bundling with home, auto, and umbrella produces meaningful credits. The cost is modest relative to the protection — single-incident social engineering fraud claims regularly exceed $100K in Florida, making the coverage easily worth the annual premium.

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