Frequently asked questions

Medical practices rely heavily on IT systems and technology to provide healthcare services. Confidential data including medical records, business files, employee records, financial records and personal information, is generally stored or accessed electronically. Losing access to that data, or having it damaged, could be devastating to your practice and patients.

No business is immune to the risk of a cyber incident. Unauthorised access by a malicious third party, a data breach, an employee mistake, or a server failure can happen at any time. Practices need to manage these exposures and protect their digital assets through good IT security and the right insurance cover 

Avant Cyber Insurance has been designed to complement our existing suite of tailored practice products and services together to help you protect your practice and make running it easier, safer and more efficient. Avant Cyber Insurance gives your practice confidence that many of the common cyber risks it faces, now and in the future, are covered. 

Avant Cyber Insurance is available under a group policy between Avant Insurance Limited and Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, trading as Liberty Specialty Markets (Liberty). Liberty is the ninth largest^ property and casualty insurer in the world. Avant has partnered with an insurer with global cyber expertise and over 100 years of general insurance experience. 

^{^Based on 2025 gross written premium, excludes state-owned companies.}

Avant Cyber Insurance provides cover against*:

• damage to digital assets such as medical records, due to an administrative or operational mistake made by your employees or IT provider
• income loss (after a 12-hour time retention period) and other extra expenses incurred due to your practice being unable to access its data
• cyber extortion payments made to regain access to or restore your data from a malicious third party, where prior approval by the insurer is provided
• defence costs and damages awarded for a claim against the practice due to malicious code being transferred to a third party’s network (excluding a provider)
• crisis management costs incurred (with prior approval from the insurer) to protect the reputation of your practice after an insured cyber incident has been reported in the media
• forensic expenses to investigate the source of unauthorised access to your practice’s network, or the failure of your practice computer security to prevent malicious or unauthorised use in a range of circumstances
• defence costs, fines and penalties (where insurable under law), resulting from a regulatory investigation into a privacy breach related to an insured cyber incident
• liability if your practice unintentionally defames a third party, breaches their right to privacy, infringes their intellectual property rights, or is found to be negligent in publishing content in electronic or print media.

*Cover is subject to the full terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy.

Avant Cyber Insurance is available to eligible practice policyholders.  If you hold a current Avant Practice Medical Indemnity Insurance policy and meet the eligibility criteria, Avant Cyber Insurance is automatically included as part of your cover. You do not need to opt-in or take any further action. 

Practices with combined billings of less than $40,000,000 for all insured practices named in the same Avant practice policy schedule in the financial year before the cyber policy period begins. 

Avant Cyber Insurance is offered as a group policy. An aggregate limit of $100,000 applies to each insured practice in the policy period, with a group policy aggregate limit of $20,000,000. 

Avant Cyber Insurance cover, for all eligible practices, is an additional benefit included in your practice’s Avant Practice Medical Indemnity Insurance policy.

Avant Cyber Insurance covers eligible practices that hold a current Avant Practice Medical Indemnity Insurance policy.

Cover extends to the entity or entities named on your Avant Medical Practice Indemnity Insurance policy schedule, and their subsidiaries. The policy covers claims made against the practice, including claims against its employees, directors, officers, partners, members or trustees, relating to acts or omissions committed while they were acting in that capacity.

Each practice has an aggregate limit of $100,000 for all claims made during the Avant Cyber Insurance policy period.

A total aggregate limit of $20,000,000 applies for all claims made by all insured practices under Avant Cyber Insurance during the policy period. All the entities insured under an Avant Practice Medical Indemnity Insurance policy share the per practice aggregate under Avant Cyber Insurance.

Yes. The excess that applies depends on your practice's gross billings in the financial year before the policy period begins: 

• If combined gross billings do not exceed $25,000,000, a $5,000 excess applies.
• If combined gross billings exceed $25,000,000, a $10,000 excess applies. 

A 12-hour time waiting period also applies to non-physical business interruption and extra expense claims. This means loss of income in the first 12 hours of your network interruption occurring is not covered. 

Practice, business and public liability insurances are crucial to ensure the operational and physical risks of your practice are protected, but they do not necessarily cover damage or losses arising from a cyber incident. They are also unlikely to cover damage to the practices non-physical or intangible assets, or practice liability connected to the digital aspects of your business.

Traditional insurance covers were not designed for digital risks. That is why we have extended our suite of covers to include cyber insurance, to give practices more protection against the emerging risks of a technology-dependent world. 

If you suspect your practice is experiencing or has suffered a cyber incident, act quickly. The sooner you contact us; the sooner we can help you get your practice back up and running. 

Avant’s Medico-legal Advisory Service is available 24/7 in emergencies on 1800 128 268. 

If required, we will refer you to an expert cyber response and forensic specialist to help you minimise the impact on your practice, staff and patients. 

Not all cyber incidents require an emergency response. Your practice’s IT provider may be able to rectify an outage or provide access to your backups without additional support, and this may be claimable under the policy. 

To make a claim under Avant Cyber Insurance, you should notify Avant of your claim within 60 days of a cyber incident occurring by calling us on 1800 128 268 or emailing nca@avant.org.au. When notifying us of a cyber incident, please include:

• your Avant Company ID
• your Avant Practice Indemnity policy number
• contact details for your practice and (where necessary) your IT provider
• details of the incident, including when it happened, what steps you have taken in response, and supporting documentation (including invoices or receipts for costs incurred). 

When someone accesses your network, they don’t always intend to cause damage immediately. Malicious code, including malware and ransomware, can sit undetected on your network for months, or even years. 

That is why Avant Cyber Insurance provides unlimited retroactive cover for your practice. The policy covers damage or loss to your digital assets during the policy period arising from unauthorised access that the practice was unaware of — even if your network was accessed before your cyber cover was in place. 

Many practices lease part of their premises to other medical practitioners or allied health businesses, and this may also include an agreement to host the tenant’s data and computer programs on your network. This means your practice may be responsible for your tenant’s data, even if you can’t access it. Your practice network may also be vulnerable to unauthorised access via their programs or computers.

Avant Cyber Insurance includes protection for damage to digital assets that belong to a medical tenant where you have an agreement with them for access to your network. Your cover includes protection for the professionals who support your practice. 

In some circumstances, the insurer may not be able to reimburse extortion monies paid by a medical practice. This may occur where reimbursement would breach applicable sanctions, prohibitions or restrictions, including those under United Nations resolutions or the trade or economic sanctions, laws or regulations of Australia, the European Union, the UK or the USA. If reimbursement is not legally permissible under those rules, the insurer will not be able to make the payment. 

Prevention is better than cure. Educating your staff and proactively managing your risk with simple tools and processes can substantially reduce the severity and impact of a cyber incident. 

Avant has created an extensive library of resources and information to help protect your practice against a cyber incident.