IT liability insurance

IT liability, clearly understood.

Technology businesses sell outcomes they do not fully control: software that must work, systems that must stay up and advice that clients build their operations around. When something fails, the loss often lands on the client first and on you shortly after. We help you understand where that exposure sits, then decide which of it to insure, which to carry and which to reduce at the source.

People talking through a project together

The basics

What is IT liability insurance?

IT liability insurance puts professional indemnity and public and products liability into one policy built for technology businesses and contractors. Placing the two together helps close the gaps that can open when they are bought separately.

Professional indemnity

  • Financial loss to a third party arising from your services or advice
  • Errors and omissions in your work
  • Legal costs and settlements that follow a claim

Public and products liability

  • Injury to a third party or damage to their property
  • Claims arising from a product malfunction
  • Work carried out on client sites and at events

As with professional indemnity, cover is generally written on a claims made basis, so the retroactive date and continuity of cover matter.

Who it suits

Who we work with.

We work with technology businesses of many kinds, including:

  • Software developers and technology start-ups
  • Managed service providers and outsourced IT
  • Web hosting, design and development
  • IT support, training and procurement
  • Cyber security consulting and management
  • Telecommunications and network services

Where claims come from

Most claims follow a small number of patterns.

  1. A system does not do what the client expected

    Software or a service falls short of what was agreed, and the client incurs extra cost to fix or replace it.

  2. A security gap is alleged to have gone unaddressed

    A client suffers a data breach and says a vulnerability should have been found or fixed.

  3. A configuration or delivery mistake causes loss

    An error in set-up, migration or an automated process leads to financial loss for the client.

Extensions

What it can be extended to cover.

Cover varies between insurers, and some IT liability policies can be extended to include:

  • Defamation and multimedia liability
  • Infringement of copyright and other intellectual property
  • Breach of contract, including confidentiality obligations
  • Loss of client data and documents
  • Wrongful acts of employees and subcontractors
  • Costs of limiting a loss once it has occurred
  • Product recall

We read the policy with you so you know what is covered and what is not.

Alongside it

Other covers to consider.

IT liability is not the whole picture. Two related covers are worth considering alongside it.

  1. Cyber insurance

    Responds to your own costs and losses after a cyber incident, such as response and restoration costs and lost income. IT liability responds to claims from clients about your work. They answer different questions.

  2. Management liability

    Protects directors and managers against allegations arising from how the business is run, including legal breaches and third-party crime.

Our advice

How Contega approaches IT liability.

Our advice begins with how your business delivers: what you build or manage, who relies on it and what your contracts promise. From there we work out how large a claim could be and what limit makes sense.

Where practice can be strengthened, we say so. Clear scopes, written change control and limits on liability in your contracts reduce the chance of a claim, and they can improve the terms you are offered.

Insurance is one part of the solution. We help you weigh what to transfer to an insurer, what to carry and what to reduce through better practice, then arrange the cover you choose.

If something does go wrong, we stay alongside you from the first notification.

Our approach

Four stages, whether we are starting from a renewal or a blank page.

  1. Observe

    We learn what you build or manage, who relies on it and what your contracts promise.

  2. Analyse

    We work through how a claim could arise, how large it could be and which practices matter most.

  3. Protect

    We recommend a way forward and arrange the cover you choose, with options and cost side by side.

  4. Stay alongside

    We stay close through renewals, changes in your work and, if it happens, a claim.

Talk to us

Let’s start with what matters.

Have a question about your IT liability cover, an upcoming renewal or a requirement from a client? Tell us what prompted the enquiry and we will work out the next step together.

Contact details

Sydney
Level 9, 32 York Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Melbourne
489–505 Toorak Road
Toorak VIC 3142

A Cohabit Group company

Contega is the commercial risk advisory business within the Cohabit Group, a risk intelligence company built around clearer data, better decisions and smarter insurance outcomes.

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