Information Technology Liability Insurance

What is Information Technology Liability Insurance?

In a perfect world, technology would run smoothly and glitch free. The reality is things don’t always go to plan and technology can have a mind of its own, often crashing at the most inconvenient of times. As a professional in the IT industry the last thing you want is your clients being disgruntled with the products or services you provide them.

This is where Information Technology Liability insurance comes into play. It provides cover in the event the IT advice, service or products you supply your clients fails. It is a combined policy that offers the protection of both Professional Indemnity and Public and Products Liability insurances*. It’s designed to give you peace of mind, addressing the potential overlap of the professional services and products you supply to your clients as an IT professional.

Here is a snapshot of what Professional Indemnity and Public and Products Liability insurance provide cover for.

Professional Indemnity insurance

Professional Indemnity insurance secures IT professionals and their businesses for claims against them for potential losses arising out of actual or alleged negligent acts or omissions in the provision of professional services or advice. For claims covered by the policy, it does this by paying compensation due to the third party, together with assisting with defence costs (these are the reasonable costs incurred in investigating and defending a covered claim, including legal fees, expert fees and court costs). It is also becoming a more common contractual requirement for independent contractors to hold and maintain their own Professional Indemnity insurance policies.

Public and Products Liability insurance

Public Liability insurance is designed to provide protection for you and your IT business in the event a customer, supplier or a member of the public is injured or sustains property damage as a result of your negligent business activities.

Product Liability insurance extends protect your businesses against claims by third parties relating to property damage or personal injury caused by your products. Product Liability insurance usually forms part of a Public Liability policy and the word ‘product’ will be a defined term in the policy wording.