Does your cyber policy protect your clients’ money — or only your own?
A plain-English, coverage-by-coverage review of an actual Hiscox CyberClear® policy sold to a real estate firm, compared against the PBI Group Arch NetSafe® 2.0 program — so you can read your own declarations page with a sharper eye.
An independent, educational comparison — not affiliated with or endorsed by Hiscox CyberClear®.
Cyber insurance is hard to compare because the differences that decide a claim don’t live on the price quote. They live in endorsements, sublimits, and definitions — often on the last pages of the policy. Two policies can both say “cyber extortion: covered” while one pays $1,000,000 toward a ransomware event and the other caps it at $25,000.
For real estate brokerages, escrow and title companies, and property managers, two differences matter above all the rest. First: whose money is covered. Most cyber crime coverage only responds when your own funds are stolen. But real estate firms hold other people’s money — earnest deposits, security deposits, rent rolls, closing funds. When wire fraud hits a trust account, a policy that covers only “your own funds” can deny the claim entirely.
Second: who defends you when a client loses her own money. When a bad actor breaches your network or email, reads Mrs. Smith’s closing details, and uses that private information to deceive her into wiring her own funds to a fraudulent account, Mrs. Smith hasn’t just lost money — she has a claim against you, because a breach of your systems exposed the information that harmed her. We call this 3rd Party Wire Fraud coverage, and it lives in the Network Security & Privacy Liability coverage part that many cyber policies sold to real estate firms simply don’t include.
Below, we compare each coverage area of a Hiscox CyberClear® policy issued to a real estate firm in 2026 against the Arch NetSafe® 2.0 program PBI Group places for real estate professionals. Both policies are shown at a $1,000,000 aggregate limit with a $1,000 deductible — which makes this a clean comparison: same headline numbers, very different fine print. Because these two policies were not issued to the same firm, we compare what actually decides claims — coverage structure, sublimits, conditions, and exclusions — not premium, which depends on each brokerage’s size and profile. A green cell marks the stronger coverage; where both cells are green, the policies are comparable. Select any row for the details and why they matter.
What we found
Headline findings from our page-by-page review of the Hiscox CyberClear® policy — every endorsement read, every sublimit checked.
Side by side, coverage by coverage
Organized the way Arch NetSafe® 2.0 is built — coverage parts plus the Cyber Crime endorsement. Select any coverage to expand the details.
Network Security & Privacy Liability (3rd Party Wire Fraud) Hiscox CyberClear® Not Included No third-party coverage part PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $1,000,000 Dedicated Coverage Part A
Hiscox CyberClear®
The reviewed Hiscox policy is built as a first-party policy. It has no dedicated Network Security & Privacy Liability insuring agreement to respond when a third party sues you after a breach of your systems.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
A dedicated third-party Coverage Part covering claims from unauthorized access, malicious code transmission, denial-of-service attacks, and Privacy Violations — defense and damages up to the full aggregate. This is the coverage that responds to 3rd Party Wire Fraud: when a breach of your systems exposes a client’s information and she is deceived into wiring her own funds to a bad actor, her claim against you is covered here.
Regulatory Proceedings & Fines Hiscox CyberClear® $100,000 Enhanced Privacy Regulation sublimit PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $1,000,000 Full policy limits
Hiscox CyberClear®
Privacy regulations (HIPAA, GLBA, GDPR, CCPA) are addressed mainly through a $100,000 Enhanced Privacy Regulation sublimit for consumer privacy violations.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Defense costs and civil fines/penalties from regulatory actions alleging Privacy Violations — including investigations commenced by civil investigative demand — to full limits. GDPR and CCPA are added to the Privacy Law definition by endorsement.
PCI-DSS Assessments Hiscox CyberClear® $1,000,000 In base insuring agreement PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $1,000,000 Full policy limits
Hiscox CyberClear®
PCI fines and assessments included in the base insuring agreement at full policy limits.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Monetary assessments from Payment Card Associations or Acquiring Banks for PCI non-compliance, covered to full policy limits.
Media Liability Hiscox CyberClear® $0 Available, but not purchased PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $1,000,000 Dedicated Coverage Part B
Hiscox CyberClear®
Hiscox offers Digital Media coverage as an option, but the reviewed policy shows $0 / $0 limits on the Declarations — it was not purchased.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
A full Media Liability Coverage Part covering copyright infringement, defamation, plagiarism, trade libel, and invasion of privacy in media activities — included in every Arch placement.
Theft of Funds (Loss Definition) Hiscox CyberClear® Excluded Carve-back only via $50K Cyber Crime PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 Covered Standard exclusion removed by endorsement
Hiscox CyberClear®
The funds-transfer exclusion excludes loss or theft of the insured’s funds, monies, or securities. The only carve-back is the Cyber Crime coverage, capped at a $50,000 shared aggregate.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
The Arch endorsement removes the standard exclusion for theft of money or securities from an Insured — a significant enhancement most cyber policies don’t offer.
Data Incident Response Expense Hiscox CyberClear® $1,000,000 Insurer’s breach response providers · full limits PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $1,000,000 All response services · full limits
Hiscox CyberClear®
Breach costs including legal, forensic, notification, call center, identity protection, crisis management, and data recovery to full limits, using Hiscox’s breach response providers.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Legal counsel, forensic IT, notifications, credit monitoring, identity theft services, PR/crisis management, and data restoration — each to full policy limits, with insurer-selected counsel and forensics for quality control.
Property Damage / Bricking Hiscox CyberClear® $50,000 PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $250,000 Includes hardware replacement
Hiscox CyberClear®
Same concept covered, but at a $50,000 sublimit — one fifth of the Arch sublimit.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Covers the cost to replace hardware rendered non-functional when its firmware or software is maliciously reprogrammed (“bricking”), plus data restoration — $250,000 sublimit.
Reputational Harm Hiscox CyberClear® $250,000 6-month recovery PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $250,000 14-day wait · 6-month recovery
Hiscox CyberClear®
Lost income from damage to reputation or brand — $250,000 sublimit, 6-month maximum period.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Lost net income from adverse publicity following a breach — $250,000 sublimit, 14-day waiting period, 6-month Period of Recovery.
Cryptojacking / Utility Fraud Hiscox CyberClear® $250,000 90-day maximum PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $250,000 90-day calculation period
Hiscox CyberClear®
Utility Fraud coverage for unauthorized access resulting in utility overages, including cryptojacking — $250,000 sublimit.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Additional utility costs (electricity, internet) from unauthorized cryptocurrency mining on your network — $250,000 sublimit.
Breach Response Hotline Hiscox CyberClear® 24 / 7 Breach Coach® + eRisk Hub® PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 24 / 7 Dedicated breach counsel hotline
Hiscox CyberClear®
Breach Coach® hotline and the eRisk Hub® risk management portal.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Immediate access to a pre-arranged breach response legal team at 844-202-1600 the moment something looks wrong.
Business Interruption — Security Breach Hiscox CyberClear® $100,000 10-hr wait · up to 120 days · sublimit endorsement PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $1,000,000 12-hr wait · recovery up to 180 days
Hiscox CyberClear®
The Declarations suggest full limits, but a later endorsement removes Business Interruption from the base insuring agreement and reimposes it at a $100,000 aggregate sublimit — with a 10-hour waiting period and 120-day recovery.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Lost income and extra expense when a breach makes your systems inoperable — up to the full aggregate, 12-hour waiting period, Period of Recovery extended to 180 days by endorsement. No sublimit endorsement reduces it.
Business Interruption — System Failure Hiscox CyberClear® $50,000 PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $1,000,000 Non-malicious outages covered
Hiscox CyberClear®
System failure covered, but at a $50,000 sublimit — one twentieth of the Arch limit.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Extends BI to systems down from administrative, programming, or other unintentional errors — not just hacking — up to the full aggregate.
Business Interruption — Dependent Business Hiscox CyberClear® Not Covered Stated on the Declarations PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $1,000,000 $250K for dependent system failure
Hiscox CyberClear®
The reviewed Declarations page explicitly states “NOT COVERED” for Dependent Business Interruption and dependent system failure.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Covers your income loss when a Dependent Business — a service provider under written contract — suffers a breach ($1,000,000) or system failure ($250,000 sublimit) that interrupts your operations.
Business Interruption — Technology Contractor Hiscox CyberClear® Not Covered PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $250,000 Breach or system failure
Hiscox CyberClear®
No technology contractor business interruption coverage found in the reviewed policy.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Covers income loss when a Technology Contractor — cloud host, SaaS provider, data center — suffers a breach or system failure, $250,000 per trigger.
Voluntary Shutdown Hiscox CyberClear® Covered With insurer’s prior consent PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 Covered With insurer consent
Hiscox CyberClear®
Voluntary shutdown with the insurer’s prior consent to minimize or avoid a threatened event.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Covers income loss when you intentionally shut systems down after discovering a breach, with insurer consent — rewarding fast defensive action.
Cyber Extortion / Ransomware Hiscox CyberClear® $25,000 Ransomware event sublimit endorsement PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $1,000,000 Full limits · no ransomware sublimit
Hiscox CyberClear®
A ransomware-event sublimit endorsement caps all ransomware loss — payments and investigation together — at $25,000, regardless of the limits shown on the Declarations.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Expenses to investigate, negotiate, and (with insurer consent) pay a ransomware demand — the full $1,000,000 applies, with both Security Threats and Privacy Threats covered and no separate ransomware cap.
Social Engineering (Wire Fraud) Hiscox CyberClear® $50,000 Shared Cyber Crime aggregate PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $250,000 Includes client funds in your care & custody
Hiscox CyberClear®
Social engineering covered with broad generic language, but within a $50,000 aggregate shared across all Cyber Crime coverages, and without real-estate-specific language or an express extension to client funds in your care, custody, and control.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Covers loss from fraudulent instructions purporting to come from a customer, vendor, bank, title company, escrow agent, closing attorney, real estate broker, or mortgage broker — and critically, extends to your clients’ funds held in your care, custody, and control, including funds in any insured account. One condition to know: instructions must be verified through a second channel (e.g., a callback) before transferring — a best practice the FBI recommends regardless.
Electronic / Funds Transfer Fraud Hiscox CyberClear® $50,000 Shared Cyber Crime aggregate PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $250,000 Includes client funds in your care & custody
Hiscox CyberClear®
Funds Transfer Fraud covered within the $50,000 shared Cyber Crime aggregate.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Covers fraudulent instructions directing your financial institution to transfer funds from your account — including client funds held in any insured account.
Invoice Manipulation Hiscox CyberClear® $50,000 “Reverse Social Engineering” · shared aggregate PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $250,000
Hiscox CyberClear®
Hiscox’s “Reverse Social Engineering” covers similar scenarios, within the $50,000 shared Cyber Crime aggregate.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Covers loss when a hacker inside your systems distributes doctored invoices to your clients, leaving you unable to collect payment.
Telephone Fraud Hiscox CyberClear® Not Covered No separate coverage found PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $250,000
Hiscox CyberClear®
No explicit telephone fraud coverage found in the reviewed policy; Utility Fraud may partially overlap.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Covers long-distance toll charges when your PBX or voicemail system is hijacked to place fraudulent calls.
Cyber Crime Aggregate (all coverages) Hiscox CyberClear® $50,000 PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $250,000
Hiscox CyberClear®
All Cyber Crime coverages share a $50,000 aggregate.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
All four Cyber Crime insuring agreements share a $250,000 aggregate.
Escrow & Title Activities Hiscox CyberClear® Excluded By endorsement PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 Covered No exclusion
Hiscox CyberClear®
An endorsement on the reviewed policy excludes claims arising from escrow or trust account handling and title/escrow agent services.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
The Arch policy contains no exclusion targeting escrow, trust account, title, or closing activities. Coverage applies to the work real estate firms actually do.
Retroactive Date Hiscox CyberClear® 5 years Retro date on the reviewed policy PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 Full Prior Acts All Coverage Parts
Hiscox CyberClear®
The reviewed policy carries a retroactive date limiting coverage to acts within roughly the past five years.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
No retroactive date restriction on any Coverage Part — breaches that began before the policy and are only discovered now are still covered.
Biometric Data Hiscox CyberClear® Excluded By endorsement PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 Covered No exclusion
Hiscox CyberClear®
An endorsement adds a broad Biometric Data Exclusion eliminating coverage for biometric data claims.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
No biometric data exclusion in the Arch policy.
Unsupported / Legacy Systems Hiscox CyberClear® Excluded By endorsement PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 Covered No exclusion
Hiscox CyberClear®
An endorsement excludes claims arising from exploitation of vulnerabilities in end-of-life or end-of-support systems.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
No exclusion for end-of-life or end-of-support systems.
Cyberterrorism / Cyberwarfare Hiscox CyberClear® Excluded Broad cyberwarfare exclusion PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 Covered Cyberterrorism carved back in
Hiscox CyberClear®
A War, Cyberwarfare, and NCBR exclusion with broad cyberwarfare language including state-attributed attacks, and no explicit cyberterrorism carve-back found.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
The war exclusion explicitly does not apply to cyberterrorism — attacks by non-state actors remain covered.
Claim Reporting Deadline Hiscox CyberClear® 60 days After the policy period PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 90 days After the policy period
Hiscox CyberClear®
Standard 60-day reporting window after the policy period.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Endorsement extends the reporting window to 90 days after the policy period ends.
Court Attendance Expenses Hiscox CyberClear® $10,000 $250/day travel per diem PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 $100,000
Hiscox CyberClear®
Supplemental attendance expenses at $10,000 aggregate per claim with a $250/day travel per diem.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Reimburses your expenses to attend hearings, trials, depositions, and ADR proceedings — $100,000 aggregate.
Extended Reporting Period Options Hiscox CyberClear® 1 / 2 / 3 years Tail options PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0 1 / 3 / 6 years Tail options
Hiscox CyberClear®
Tail options of 1, 2, or 3 years on the reviewed policy.
PBI Group | Arch NetSafe® 2.0
Tail options of 1, 3, or 6 years are available when the policy is cancelled or non-renewed.
Hiscox figures reflect an actual Hiscox CyberClear® policy issued to a real estate firm ($1,000,000 aggregate, $1,000 deductible), reviewed page by page in 2026. The Arch program is shown at the same $1,000,000 / $1,000 configuration for a like-for-like comparison; other limits and deductibles are available. The two policies were not issued to the same firm, so premium is not compared. Hiscox coverage options, endorsements, and limits vary by placement — where a coverage was available but not purchased on the reviewed policy, we say so. Your policy’s terms may differ, which is exactly why we recommend a review of your specific documents. Hiscox® and CyberClear® are trademarks of their respective owner; use here is for factual comparison only and implies no affiliation or endorsement.
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WE RECOMMEND THAT YOU REVIEW ANY PROPOSAL WITH YOUR LEGAL COUNSEL AS PART OF YOUR DECISION MAKING PROCESS. THIS PAGE IS ONLY A HIGHLIGHT OF TERMS AND DOES NOT REPRESENT ALL TERMS IN THE POLICY LANGUAGE. YOU SHOULD MAKE ALL FINAL DETERMINATIONS ABOUT COVERAGE BASED ON THE ACTUAL POLICY LANGUAGE.
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