POLICY BUILDER

Patch Management Policy

Define your patching cadence for critical, high, and medium/low vulnerabilities. Document testing procedures and exception management. Aligned to Beazley, Hartford, Coalition, and Travelers expectations.

📋 What this cyber insurance requirement is

A patch management policy for cyber insurance should define patch classification and SLA targets for critical, high, and medium/low vulnerabilities, document internet-facing system priority, specify testing procedures and exception management with approval workflow and review schedule, outline vendor patch availability tracking, testing environment requirements, and rollback procedures. Most major carriers require this documentation at renewal to verify your organization patches systems consistently and promptly.

Create your patch management policy below

What you'll get
  • ✓Patch Classification & SLA Table (critical, high, medium/low timeframes)
  • ✓Internet-Facing Systems priority (accelerated or same-as-critical)
  • ✓Patch Testing requirements (scope by severity and OS)
  • ✓Exception Management process with approval workflow & review schedule
  • ✓Carrier alignment (what each underwriter expects)

What carriers are looking for

Each carrier asks slightly different questions. Here are some named artifacts by carrier.

Beazley

  • Critical patches on internet-facing systems within 48 hours
  • Documentation of SLA compliance and exception tracking

Hartford

  • Patch management procedure and SLA documentation
  • Proactive patching cadence and change management

Coalition

  • Vulnerability and patch management evidence
  • Critical patches within defined timeframe
  • Exception audit trail

Travelers

  • Patching cadence and compliance reporting
  • Exception log with business justification
  • Remediation timeline

What to collect

Evidence artifacts your broker will need during the renewal process.

📊

Patch compliance report

Monthly or quarterly compliance metrics: % of critical patches deployed within SLA, high patches, medium/low patches.

📋

Critical deployment timeline

Sample of recent critical patch deployments showing date released, tested, and deployed to production.

⏱

Exception log

Documented exceptions with business justification, approval, target remediation date, and resolution.

🌐

Internet-facing asset patch status

List of internet-facing systems and their patch status. Shows accelerated patching and reduced time-to-deploy.

🧪

Testing records

Evidence of patch testing (e.g., lab environment test results, QA sign-off) for critical and high patches.

🔄

Change management log

Sample change requests showing approval, rollback procedure, and communication plan for patches.

Important: What this doesn't prove

Be upfront about these gaps. Carriers appreciate honesty over overstatement.

On-time deployment: Policy + metrics don't prove patches were actually applied within SLA on specific systems.

Internet-facing inventory: You may not have fully identified all internet-facing systems. Documentation gap = remediation.

Compensating controls: Exceptions are justified with compensating controls, but you may not actually have them in place.

Testing effectiveness: Testing records don't prove patches were actually tested or that rollback procedures work.

Who owns what

🏢Insured

Owns the policy (governance, approval workflow). Responsible for identifying internet-facing systems and documenting exceptions with business justification.

🔧MSP/IT Team

Executes patching across all platforms (WSUS, Intune, JAMF, etc.). Provides compliance reports, deployment timelines, and testing records. Maintains exception log.

🤝Broker

Coordinates policy creation with insured. Collects evidence from IT/MSP. Maps to carrier questions. Flags gaps (e.g., missing internet-facing inventory) for remediation before renewal.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's a realistic SLA for critical patches?
For internet-facing systems: 24-48 hours. For internal systems: 7 days. Beazley wants 48 hours max for internet-facing. Coalition and Hartford accept 7 days if you have compensating controls (WAF, segmentation, IP allow-listing).
Do we need testing for every patch?
No. Carriers expect testing for critical and high patches, especially on servers. Bundled updates and monthly patches for workstations are usually auto-deployed. The policy should define the testing scope.
What counts as an "exception"?
Any system that cannot be patched within SLA (e.g., legacy app that breaks with patch, vendor-dependent system, critical production system that needs extended testing). Each exception needs approval, business justification, and a target remediation date (max 90 days).
How do we define "internet-facing systems"?
Any system with a public IP or accessible from the internet (web apps, APIs, portals, email servers, VPN endpoints, DNS, etc.). Carriers will ask for a list. If you can't provide one, that's a gap. Worst case: assume all internet-connected systems are in scope.
What platform should we use?
Carriers don't mandate a specific platform. WSUS, Intune, JAMF, Automox, or ManageEngine all work. The key is consistent deployment and reporting. Modern platforms (Intune, Automox) provide better metrics and compliance reporting.
How often should we review this policy?
Annually at minimum. If your compliance drops below 90%, investigate and update SLAs or add resources. If vulnerabilities increase, tighten SLAs. Use carriers' update cycles as a trigger (check March 2026 updates from Hartford, Coalition, Beazley).

Sources (March 2026)

  • Beazley Cyber – Internet-facing system patching SLA (48 hours for critical)
  • Hartford Cyber – Patch management procedure documentation requirements
  • Coalition – Vulnerability and patch management control evidence
  • Travelers InsuriTech – Patching cadence and exception tracking expectations

Get your policies in order

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