Contractual mechanism by which certain risks initially excluded from a policy are partially or fully reinstated into coverage through a specific clause or endorsement.
Write-back is the mechanism by which an exclusion clause is accompanied by an exception that restores coverage for a subset of risks initially excluded. In the context of LMA cyber war clauses, write-back represents the level of residual coverage that the insurer agrees to maintain despite the main exclusion. The write-back scale runs from 0 (total exclusion, LMA 5564) to 3 (widest coverage with bystanding write-back, LMA 5567A). For LMA 5565, write-back is capped by sub-limits to be specified in the contract. For LMA 5566 and 5567, there is no specific capping within the clause itself, with the policy limit applying. For property policies (LMA 5400), write-back covers only physical damage caused by fire or explosion resulting from a non-malicious cyber incident. The extent of write-back is a key commercial parameter: too narrow, it strips the policy of value for the insured; too broad, it exposes the insurer to accumulation on cyber war claims. Negotiating write-back lies at the heart of the relationship between the insured, their broker and the Lloyd's market.
A multinational industrial company negotiates a cyber policy covering state-backed cyber operations under LMA 5567A. It benefits from the bystanding write-back for its plants located outside any impacted state. Had its broker accepted the Hamilton variant, this write-back would have been removed, significantly reducing the policy's value for a company with an international footprint.
réintégration, réintégration de couverture, remise en couverture, write back