Why EDR matters to underwriters
Cyber-insurance loss data tells a clear story. Mean-time-to-detect (MTTD) and mean-time-to-respond (MTTR) are the two largest correlates of claim severity. A breach detected and contained in days costs materially less than the same breach detected after weeks of dwell time. IBM Cost of a Data Breach 2025 puts the difference at roughly $1.7 million on the average mid-market incident.
Endpoint compromise is the single most common initial-access vector in published breach data. Verizon DBIR 2025 places endpoint-driven and credential-driven initial access ahead of all other vectors combined. EDR’s continuous telemetry and behavioural detection materially reduce MTTD on this most-common attack pattern. Underwriters know this and price for it.
The structural shift from 2023 onward has been from EDR being a discount-eligible control to EDR being a baseline-required control. The economic incentive has not gone away; it has moved from premium discounts for the well-controlled to premium loadings or exclusions for the poorly-controlled.
What underwriters explicitly require
Position as of public underwriting guidance from major carriers in 2026. Broker-confirmed guidance is the authoritative source for any specific application; this is the aggregated public picture.
| Carrier | EDR baseline? | Notes (public guidance) |
|---|---|---|
| Coalition | Required | EDR or MDR explicitly named in underwriting questionnaire. Coalition publishes a recognised-vendor list. |
| Corvus | Required | Endpoint detection and response listed as core control. Premium discount available for documented MDR. |
| Beazley | Required for most segments | Required above 100 employees; flexible below for some sectors. NGAV may suffice for sub-100 employee. |
| Embroker | Required | EDR is one of seven baseline controls in their cyber questionnaire. |
| Cowbell | Strongly recommended | Premium loading without EDR; specific reduction band published for documented EDR. |
| Travelers / Chubb / AIG | Required mid-market+ | Major-carrier general position: EDR required for accounts above approximately $5M annual revenue. |
Most carriers accept named-vendor EDR from a recognised list. Some accept “EDR-class” products without specifying. NGAV is occasionally accepted as equivalent for sub-100-employee accounts but the window is closing. MDR (managed detection and response) is increasingly differentiated as a higher-discount posture than self-managed EDR; Coalition and Corvus have published specific MDR-tier premium reductions.
Premium-reduction bands
Public broker publications (Marsh, Aon, Risk Strategies) report typical premium reductions of 5 to 15 percent for EDR-equipped postures versus comparable AV-only postures. The exact figure varies by carrier, by industry, and by policy size, but the band is consistent across published broker commentary.
Worked example: 200-endpoint SMB. Base annual premium $35,000 (typical for SMB cyber policy). 10 percent reduction = $3,500 saved per year. EDR licence at $6 per endpoint per month for 200 endpoints = $14,400 per year. Insurance offset covers 24 percent of EDR licence cost. Net cost of EDR after insurance offset: $10,900 per year, or $4.54 per endpoint per month effective.
Worked example: 1,500-endpoint mid-market. Base annual premium $150,000. 12 percent reduction = $18,000 saved. EDR licence at $5 per endpoint per month for 1,500 endpoints = $90,000. Insurance offset covers 20 percent of EDR licence cost. Net effective rate: $4 per endpoint per month after offset.
The offset alone rarely justifies EDR if there is no other compliance or operational driver. Combined with compliance-framework benefit and the underlying detection-coverage improvement, the offset makes the economic case clean.
What “EDR” means to insurers vs marketing
Insurer definitions of EDR have tightened since 2023. The carrier’s working definition typically requires:
- Behavioural detection beyond signature matching.
- Continuous endpoint telemetry collection retained for 30 days minimum, 90 preferred.
- Response capability: at minimum process termination and host isolation.
- Centralised console with multi-endpoint visibility, not endpoint-only client UIs.
- Coverage on all endpoints, not a partial deployment. Some carriers ask for endpoint coverage percentage; below 95 percent is a flag.
A vendor advertising “EDR” that lacks one of these (often: telemetry retention) may not satisfy the carrier’s definition. The “we have EDR” claim is being verified more rigorously as carriers tighten their questionnaires; some now ask for specific vendor and tier rather than accepting a generic claim.
The cheapest defensible posture
For an SMB whose primary EDR motivation is insurance compliance, the minimum-defensible posture is:
- A recognised EDR-class product from the carrier’s acceptance list (verify with broker).
- Deployed across all endpoints, with monitoring of coverage percentage.
- Logging retention meeting carrier requirement (30 days minimum, 90 preferred).
- Response capability enabled (some EDR products ship with response disabled).
- Documentation of the deployment for the application: vendor name, tier, deployment date, coverage percentage.
The cheapest products meeting this bar are typically Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 1 (for Microsoft 365 customers, often included in higher-tier subscriptions) and several SMB-tier EDR products with public sub-100-endpoint plans. Cross-link EDR for small business for the specific posture math at SMB scale.