A specialist firm vetted and pre-approved by insurers to manage incident response following a claim. These firms include cybersecurity companies (for digital forensics and containment), specialist lawyers (for legal advice and breach notifications), loss adjusters (for claim assessment), and public relations firms (for reputation management). Insurers maintain panels of these qualified firms to ensure consistent, professional, and legally defensible incident handling. Using a pre-approved firm typically ensures coverage for response costs and faster claim processing. For cyber incidents, these firms offer 24/7 response, evidence preservation, regulatory compliance support, and expert testimony if needed. Many policies require using panel firms to guarantee coverage for response costs, though some allow choosing alternative providers with insurer consent. Regulators increasingly expect businesses to engage professional incident response, particularly when handling sensitive data.