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IT Contractor Insurance Professional Indemnity insurance, Public / Employers liability - Hiscox.

IT contractor insurance guide

Published on Dec 21, 2009 |

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Contractors provide professional advice and services to a wide variety of clients and as such they may well be liable for any mistakes or errors they may make in the course of their duties.

As a result, many contractors take out insurance cover just in case something goes wrong. In some cases, clients will insist that a contractor is covered by a professional indemnity policy before hiring.

Contractor Insurance quotes are very competitive these days - you can get an instant online quote for a variety of policies here via our Insurance Partner, Hiscox.

IT Contractor Professional Indemnity (PI) Cover

This covers contractors against claims for negligence, unintentional breaches of intellectual property, loss of data or documents and claims for dishonesty.

Clearly, the risks a contractor faces will depend on his area of expertise (i.e. is he an IT contractor, a management consultant, etc).

Typically, specialist insurers will provide PI policies tailor made to the area you specialise in.

Read our dedicated guide to Professional indemnity insurance cover.

Employers' Liability Cover

This type of policy will cover any 'employees' you may have within your company for any injury sustained at work. Employers are obliged to carry this type of cover by law.

If you are the sole 'employee' of your limited company, you should still consider taking out Employers' Liability Cover. The legal minimum level of cover is £5m, but many insurers provide £10m.

Read our full guide to Employers liability insurance for contractors.

Public Liability Cover

This type of cover is also known as 'general' or 'product' liability insurance. This will cover your company against third party claims - e.g. if someone visits your office and falls over a computer cable. It will also cover you if you accidentally damage property at your client site.

Read our full guide to Public liability insurance cover.

Other Types of Insurance

Contractors may also be interested in covering themselves against computer/laptop damage and office contents insurance.

Increasingly, many IT contractors also decide to take out IR35 and/or general tax investigation insurance to cover them in the event of a status challenge by HMRC. You can read more in our IR35 insurance article.

You can get an instant online quote for a variety of policies via our business insurance partners; Hiscox and Simply Business.