U.K. buyers often have very different concerns than U.S. buyers when it comes to transferring cyber risks to insurance, an issue that insurers, brokers, buyers and the U.K. government are looking to rectify.

The rapidly growing risk is an issue for U.K companies and organizations, according to a report issued last week by the U.K. government, Marsh L.L.C. and insurers. While 81% of large U.K. companies and 60% of small ones suffered a cyber security breach in the past year, less than 10% have bought cyber insurance.

A lack of data pooling has hampered insurers' ability to develop coverage and pricing models. In addition, the potential of aggregated losses affecting a large number of companies is a concern for insurers, according to the analysis.

“This is a call to arms to the insurance sector,” said Mark Weil, London-based CEO of Marsh in the United Kingdom and Ireland, as many large companies still do not view cyber coverage as “part of the toolkit” to manage cyber risks.

The joint initiative of the U.K. Cabinet Office, Marsh and 13 insurers that produced the cyber report is “a first step” to help businesses manage their cyber risks, said Natalie Black, London-based deputy director of cyber defense and incident management at the Cabinet Office.

The report recommends establishing a forum including the government and the insurance sector, such as the Association of British Insurers and Lloyd's of London, on “data and insight exchange for policy discussions,” among other things.

“The London market has a long, proud history of finding innovative solutions to insuring large, complex risks that are challenging to underwrite locally,” Lloyd's CEO Inga Beale said. “Just as the market has responded to new challenges before, so it needs to again.”

John Hurrell, CEO of London-based Airmic Ltd., said cyber coverage developed so far largely responds to a data breach, which is a huge concern for U.S. buyers. However, some U.K. buyers are more worried about theft of intellectual property, disruption of services and reputational damage, he said. Also, there often is insufficient capacity to provide limits large buyers desire, the leader of the U.K. risk management group said.

Sharing information among firms and insurers on cyber incidents could help the U.K. cyber insurance market, said Sarah Stephens, a London partner in the financial lines group at JLT Speciality Ltd., a Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group P.L.C. unit.