Software developer insurance

Public liability insurance

In case you or your employee injure someone or damage their property.

What’s typically covered by public and product liability insurance for software developers?

Claims against your business for:

• damage to someone else’s property, because of your work as a software consultant
• injury caused by your business activities
• accidental damage or injury caused by your employee, if you have one

For example:

• while you’re working in your client’s office, someone trips over your laptop cable, breaking their ankle
• you spill coffee on a client’s laptop, damaging the screen

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case an employee gets sick or injured while working for you.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• employee illness or injury caused by working for you
• medical bills and legal fees due to employee illness or injury
• some temps or casual workers may be covered

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

• a Christmas temp slips in the client’s office, hurting their back and causing chronic pain
• your employee is working late and traps their hand in the door while locking up, breaking a finger

Professional indemnity insurance

In case you make a mistake or give incorrect advice, costing your client money.

What’s typically covered by professional indemnity insurance for software developers?

Claims against your business for professional negligence which causes your client a financial loss, which may include:

• advice you’ve given which turns out to be incorrect
• errors in your work

For example:

• while creating new software, you expose your client to a virus which causes them to lose their customer data
• you agree on a deadline with your client, but the work takes longer than estimated – the delay forces them to cancel their launch party and rollout

Read more about professional indemnity insurance

Business and office equipment insurance

In case something happens to equipment like your phone or laptop.

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

• theft of the equipment you use to run your business
• accidental loss of your operational equipment
• flood, fire or accidental damage

For example:

• your laptop is stolen from a client’s meeting room
• you drop your phone onto the leg of your chair, cracking and distorting the screen

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you’re faced with certain legal costs while running your software business.

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

• some legal costs associated with day-to-day activities, like a client dispute
• property damage, nuisance or trespass and associated legal costs
• HMRC, tax and compliance issues, if they come up
• includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline and crisis support to help you protect your reputation as a software consultant

For example:

• you’re selected at random by HMRC for an enquiry into your last tax return, and need legal advice
• you hire a temp for a bigger client project, who sues you for unfair dismissal

What you’ll need additional cover for

• contractual disputes arising from software development, installation or services

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at or outside of work.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• injury or death of anyone you’ve covered in the policy – whether this happens at work or elsewhere
• lost income, hospital bills or other medical costs associated with the accident

For example:

• you break your leg on a night out, forcing you to delay client work and take time off
• your temp employee shuts their hand in the car door while driving their child to school, breaking a finger

Read more about personal accident insurance