One company in the United Kingdom has now started selling policies that offset the costs of trolling.
Although cyber policies are nothing new, as companies need to protect themselves against the risk of data breaches, an insurer in the United Kingdom is now offering cyberbullying insurance as many companies and individuals have also come to find that online trolling can also be very disruptive and expensive.
The practices of online trolls and cyberbullies can sometimes just be a nuisance but can also become very extreme.
Some actions from trolls are a matter of making nasty comments on social media, comments pages and even customer reviews. However, other more extreme forms include actions such as swatting, where the troll calls in a fake emergency so the police will raid the home of the victim. Clearly these harassers are becoming more creative and have grown beyond the point of merely being frustrating as they are starting to pose safety threats and are doing expensive damage. It is for this reason that cyberbullying insurance may be helpful for those who feel they may be at risk.
The cyberbullying insurance policy is meant to help to cover the cost generated by trolls and online harassers.
These digital bullying and troll policies are being sold by Chubb insurance and are sold to individuals as a part of a package of coverage. They offer approximately $75,000 of coverage that is meant to pay for the costs associated with the loss of income a victim has experienced if he or she must stay off the job for more than a week as a result of the harassment, as well as the cost of counseling.
According to Chubb insurance, the definition of cyberbullying is “three or more acts by the same person or group to harass, threaten or intimidate a customer.”
Pew Research data shows that an estimated 73 percent of American adults feel they have seen instances of harassment online, while 40 percent feel they have personally been the victim of such activities. In the most extreme cases of this type of online harassment, trolls can nearly take over the life of their victims. It has been known to cause suicides.
The goal of this cyberbullying insurance is to help policyholders to regain control over their lives and to bring themselves back to where they were before the trolls started to harass them.