Compare professional indemnity IT contractor insurance

Compare IT Professional Indemnity Insurance 

Whether you’re an independent IT professional or you own an IT company with hundreds of consultants on your staff, you’ll need professional indemnity insurance (PII). No one wants to pay over the odds for your professional indemnity IT insurance – and that’s where we can come to the rescue. 

Quotezone.co.uk’s professional indemnity insurance comparison service can help you find policies from a wide range of insurance specialists. All it takes is one short form and you will have quotes from multiple insurers to compare. 

Compare Professional Indemnity Insurance for IT Now 

Why would I need IT professional indemnity insurance? 

As the name suggests, PII for IT consultants is designed to protect people in the IT sector against the risk of professional indemnity claims. If you don’t have this type of policy, you could be at financial risk if a client or customer sues you. But with PII you are protected from the cost of any legal fees and compensation payouts from these claims. 

What kinds of things does this policy cover? 

IT professional insurance should cover you against the risk of a liability claim. This includes if you’re taken to court by a client who suffered a loss due to your work or advice.  

The loss the client is suing you for could be monetary in nature. An example would be if they lost revenue because the client’s systems were offline due to a problem with your code. They could also suffer other types of loss. For instance, if their reputation is damaged because of a data breach that occurs due to your work or professional advice.  

And what’s likely to be excluded from IT professional indemnity insurance? 

The four main types of exclusions with professional indemnity IT insurance are likely to be: 

• A loss that occurs due to malicious damage on your part – for example, deliberating deleting a client’s database or corrupting their code. 
• Issues that arise because you were working on systems or platforms that you weren’t qualified or commissioned to work on. 
• A loss that wasn’t specifically caused by your own work or advice – for example, lost revenue due to a system failure that was outside your control. 
• Physical injuries caused by someone tripping over or hurting themselves on your equipment, hardware or cabling – you’ll usually need public liability insurance for these claims rather than professional indemnity insurance.  

Do people in the IT sector legally have to have professional indemnity insurance? 

It’s not a legal requirement, no. 

Some industry bodies might insist you have this type of insurance though. A lot of clients might ask for proof of professional indemnity insurance as well. This is because this type of policy covers the client as much as it does you.  

What’s the best way to compare IT professional insurance? 

Comparing professional indemnity insurance IT policies at Quotezone.co.uk is a great way to find policies. Comparing allows you to find the best cover for your needs and budget. 

We can help match you with some great insurers from our panel of professional indemnity insurance specialists. You’ll only need to complete one short form to get started with a PII comparison.  

Is this type of insurance suitable for independent IT professionals? 

Yes, if you’re an independent IT professional you can take out professional indemnity insurance just as easily as a bigger company. It’s definitely worth considering because independents are sometimes just as likely to be sued as large IT companies.  

How much does professional indemnity IT insurance cost, on average? 

This depends on you and your cover. 

Insurance providers will take a wide range of different risk factors into account when deciding premiums. A few of these include: 

• The type of IT work you do 
• Your level of experience 
• The types of clients you work with  
• The value of your contracts with those clients 
• Your history of insurance claims  

The cost will be unique to you and your IT work, so any average wouldn’t be particularly useful. To find an accurate cost for your business you can compare quotes across multiple insurers at Quotezone.co.uk.  

If I’m a newly qualified IT professional will this policy be more expensive? 

Possibly, yes. 

It probably goes without saying that the less experience you have the more likely you are to make a mistake. This means you will usually pay a bit more for this policy if you’re newly qualified.  

How much professional indemnity insurance coverage do I need? 

The answer to this will largely depend on: 

• How many clients you have. 
• The type of work you’re doing for those clients. 
• The value of your contracts with those clients. 
• The potential loss they might suffer if you were to make a mistake or offer bad advice.  

The coverage levels that insurance providers offer can vary from as little as £50,000 to as much as £5 million public liability insurance. But in practice, you might find that your clients might stipulate how much insurance they expect you to have. Industry bodies sometimes stipulate minimum coverage levels as well.  

Will my policy cost more if I’ve claimed on my professional indemnity insurance in the past? 

Yes, the fact that you’ve claimed on your professional indemnity insurance will usually affect cost. Claiming before indicates to insurers that you might face another claim in the future. This means your premium will usually be higher for this new policy to cover the increased risk.  

If one of my employees makes a mistake that results in a financial loss for my client will it be that employee or my business that gets sued? 

This depends on if the employee is a permanent member of your workforce who was tasked by your company with carrying out the work they were doing. In this case, that employee is considered to be a representative of your business. In practice, that means it would be your business that would be liable rather than that individual employee. 

On the other hand, if the employee was a sub-contractor, then they might be personally liable. So, it does depend on the working relationship between you, the employee and the client.  

How many employees can I include on my professional indemnity IT insurance? 

There typically isn’t a maximum number of employees that can be included in professional indemnity IT insurance coverage. But it probably goes without saying that the more employees that are covered by your IT professional’s insurance the higher your premium is likely to be. 

Does this type of policy cover me if I’m sued by one of my employees? 

No, professional indemnity insurance isn’t the right type of insurance in that scenario – you’ll need employers’ liability insurance instead. 

It’s sometimes possible to bundle employers liability insurance with your professional indemnity cover though, so it might be worth looking into that when you’re comparing policies.