Compliance / 2026

MDR for cyber insurance: requirements, discounts, and the 97.5% stat

What insurers actually require, how much MDR can shave off your premium, and how to walk through the security questionnaire with MDR in place. Cost offsets to factor into your business case.

The headline stat

MDR users claim 97.5% less

97.5%

fewer cyber insurance claims

filed by organisations with managed detection and response in place compared to those without. Cited across multiple cyber underwriter reports and used as the basis for premium discount programmes.

The reason the difference is so large isn't that MDR makes attacks impossible. It's that MDR catches and contains incidents before they become claim-worthy events. An attacker who lands a phishing payload on a Tuesday and is detected and isolated by 2am Wednesday doesn't trigger an insurance claim. The same attacker who succeeds against an unmonitored endpoint and dwells for 30 days extracting data triggers a multi-million dollar claim.

What insurers require

The current cyber underwriting baseline

Cyber insurance underwriting tightened significantly between 2022 and 2025 in response to ransomware claim volume. The current baseline most carriers require:

Multi-factor authentication on all admin accounts, remote access, email, and privileged systems
EDR or MDR deployed on every endpoint, documented patching and tuning
Documented incident response plan with named roles and tested annually
Regular backups with offline or immutable copies, tested restoration procedures
Security awareness training with phishing simulation, completion tracked
Vulnerability management programme with scanning, prioritisation, and remediation evidence
Privileged access management for admin accounts and service credentials

Premium math

Cost offset calculation

Working example for a 500-endpoint mid-market organisation:

Baseline annual cyber premium (without MDR)$100,000
Premium discount with MDR (20% midpoint)-$20,000
Adjusted premium$80,000
Annual MDR cost (mid-market 500 endpoints)+$120,000
Net new spend$100,000

Net new spend of $100K buys you 24/7 detection plus a $20K reduction in cyber premium. Compared to the cost of a single uncovered ransomware incident (often $1M-$5M for SMBs and mid-market), the math is straightforward.

Vendor specifics

What documentation each MDR vendor provides

Insurers want evidence of control. The strength and consistency of vendor reporting varies; check that your shortlisted vendors deliver what your carrier requires.

Vendor	Documentation strengths
CrowdStrike Falcon Complete	Brand-name acceptance with most insurers, breach prevention warranty, monthly reporting packages, integrates with major GRC platforms.
Arctic Wolf	Concierge Security Team produces evidence-ready monthly reports, posture coaching documented, QBR materials accepted by most underwriters.
SentinelOne Vigilance	Singularity platform reporting, Vigilance monthly summaries, compliance reporting add-ons available.
Sophos MDR	Tiered reporting, breach response warranty at Complete tier, partner-delivered audit packages.
Huntress	SMB-focused reporting accepted by most lower-mid carriers, MSP-delivered evidence packages, weaker for enterprise compliance frameworks.
Expel	Investigative transparency, narrative incident reports, strong fit when auditors want detailed reasoning.

Application walkthrough

Filling the security questionnaire with MDR in place

Most cyber insurance applications include a security control questionnaire. With MDR deployed you can answer affirmatively to multiple questions in one stack:

"Do you have endpoint detection and response on all endpoints?" Yes (MDR includes EDR).
"Is your environment monitored 24/7?" Yes (the MDR provider monitors).
"Do you have a documented incident response plan?" Yes, including the MDR provider's escalation runbook.
"Do you receive regular security reporting?" Yes (monthly MDR reports plus QBRs).
"Do you conduct threat hunting?" Yes (MDR provider performs proactive hunting).

Pro tip

Attach your most recent MDR report (with sensitive data redacted) to the application. Insurers see thousands of questionnaires; tangible evidence-of-control documentation accelerates underwriting and earns better terms than self-attestation alone.

Compliance overlap

MDR satisfies controls in multiple frameworks

The same MDR deployment that earns insurance discounts also satisfies controls in standard compliance frameworks. The overlap is substantial:

SOC 2 Type II: continuous monitoring, incident response, threat detection controls
ISO 27001: A.12.4 logging and monitoring, A.16 incident management
PCI DSS: requirement 10 (track and monitor access), requirement 12 (incident response)
HIPAA Security Rule: 164.312(b) audit controls, 164.308(a)(6) security incident procedures
NIST CSF: Detect and Respond functions across multiple categories

Tool

ROI calculator

Versus breach cost.

Guide

For small business

Affordable options.

Reference

What's included

SLAs and deliverables.

FAQ

Cyber insurance and MDR questions

Is MDR required for cyber insurance in 2026?

Most major underwriters now require either EDR with documented procedures or full MDR as a precondition for cyber liability coverage. EDR alone meets baseline requirements with most carriers. MDR earns higher premium credits and is often required for organisations seeking $5M+ in coverage. Specific requirements vary by carrier; check the security questionnaire on your renewal.

How much does cyber insurance discount with MDR in place?

Premium discounts typically range from 15-25% versus baseline pricing for organisations with documented MDR coverage. On a $100,000 cyber insurance premium, that's $15,000 to $25,000 in annual savings. The discount partially offsets MDR cost and is often the deciding factor in the budget conversation.

Do all MDR vendors satisfy insurance requirements?

All six major MDR vendors covered on this site (CrowdStrike Falcon Complete, Arctic Wolf, SentinelOne Vigilance, Sophos MDR, Huntress, Expel) provide the documentation and reporting that insurers require. Specifics on documentation packages vary, so confirm during procurement that your chosen vendor will provide the evidence-of-control reporting your carrier wants.

What's the 97.5% lower claim stat?

Insurance industry data shows organisations with managed detection and response in place file approximately 97.5% fewer cyber insurance claims than those without. The figure has been cited by multiple cyber underwriters and insurance trade publications as the basis for premium discount programmes. The difference is partly because MDR catches and contains incidents before they become claim-worthy events.

What other security controls do cyber insurers require?

Standard requirements in 2026: multi-factor authentication on all admin and remote access accounts, EDR or MDR on every endpoint, documented and tested incident response plan, regular backups with offline copies, security awareness training, and a vulnerability management programme. MDR helps satisfy multiple of these in one stack.

Disclaimer

MDRCost.com is an independent pricing guide. We are not affiliated with any MDR vendor. Pricing data is compiled from public sources, partner channels, Vendr transaction data, and verified buyer reports. Always request a direct quote for your environment.