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IT Contractor Insurance
Professional Indemnity insurance for contractors + public and employers' liability cover - try Hiscox. |
Professional indemnity insurance for contractors
Posted Sep 29, 2011
If your agency or client has asked you to take out a professional indemnity insurance policy, but you're unsure what this type of cover can provide you in practice, this beginners guide written in association with our insurance partner, Hiscox, may help.
What is Professional Indemnity Insurance?
This type of insurance will protect you and your business in the event that a dissatisfied client makes a claim against you, which could be crippling financially as well as damaging to your reputation.
Here are some of the key areas which PI insurance is designed to cover:
- Negligence - where you have breached your duty of care to the client.
- Dishonesty - where you are found liable for stealing money from your client.
- Intellectual Property (IP) - for unintentionally breaching copyrights, trademarks and other rights.
- Loss of Data / Documents - where you lose important information belonging to your client.
Professional indemnity insurance covers your contracting business in several ways:
1. You will insured in the event that you make a mistake whilst providing professional services to a client, leading to a dispute. If the dispute gets nasty, Hiscox will defend your claim - even if it goes to court. Subject to the level of cover you take out, your policy will also cover you for any damages you are found to be liable for.
2. Your policy will pay for the cost of fixing any mistakes you have made, potentially avoiding a larger claim being made.
3. If you mistakenly damage or lose a client's data or documents, or you or one of your employees has been involved in the theft of a client's money, your business will be covered.
4. Further benefits of taking out a PI policy with Hiscox include: access to specialist legal defence teams and claims staff who understand how the contracting industry works, avoiding potentially crippling legal costs, and protecting your reputation as a professional contractor.
How much PI cover should I take out?
There is no strict rule governing what level of PI cover you need. Some clients will specify a minimum level of indemnity they require, depending on the exact nature of the work you will be carrying out. Many government departments require their contract workers to have at least £5m of cover in place.
Aside from any levels stipulated by your agency or client, our advice is to buy as much as your business can reasonably afford to pay for.
You may also consider taking out retroactive cover for work you have completed in the past. This can easily be added to your quote when you take out a new policy.
Why choose Hiscox?
Unlike many other insurers, Hiscox doesn't provide one-size-fits-all professional indemnity insurance. Some of their key strengths include:
- The company is a leading specialist insurer, with policies tailored to each industry.
- You can get an instant quote, buy online, and be covered the same day.
- Hiscox have a specialist claims team, familiar with the contracting industry.
- Payment terms are easy, including an interest free monthly direct debit option.
- You can buy a selection of add-ons, including business liability and computer equipment cover.
You can get a quote for business liability and professional indemnity insurance via Hiscox using the button below:
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