Software specialists' insurance
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For 80% of settled claims
Why do you need IT consultant insurance?
Our policies don’t stop at liability insurance. Accidental injuries and damage are everyday risks, but claims for negligence, tool theft, and legal disputes affect thousands of consultants. For example if a client felt you’d compromised their customer data and made an indemnity claim, would you have the funds ready to deal with it and move on?
- IT consultant liability insurance with public liability from £1 million
- peace of mind, letting you focus on the day’s tasks, not the what-ifs
- cover for the essentials from the contents of your office to legal expenses
What does IT consultant insurance cover?
We’ll start with professional indemnity insurance, designed to cover software professionals and consultants against claims for negligence and loss-causing errors. Our cover also builds public liability cover into your IT consultant insurance – UK contact centre, 24/7 claims team, and tools insurance are all part and parcel too, depending on what your business needs.
Public liability insurance for IT consultants
In case your IT business causes an injury or property damage.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your IT/software business.
Professional indemnity insurance IT consultants
In case there’s a claim for negligence, or breaches in your duty of care.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case things like your phone or tablet are lost, stolen, or damaged.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you and your IT or software consultancy face legal costs.
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or elsewhere.
Public liability insurance for IT consultants
In case your IT business causes an injury or property damage.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- damage to someone’s property, caused by your IT/software consultancy
- an injury or illness caused by your business activities
- accidental damage or injuries caused by your employees
For example:
- a delivery driver trips over your charging cable while you’re working in a shared workspace, cutting their hand and breaking their arm
- while installing some new equipment in your client’s office, you smash their glass meeting room door
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case anyone gets ill or injured while working for your IT/software business.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- an injury or illness that happens as a result of working for you (including temps and casual workers)
**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 contractor you’ve hired electrocutes their hand while setting up for the day, and claims you’ve provided an unsafe working environment
- your office manager breaks their finger while trying to close a faulty window before heading home
Professional indemnity insurance IT consultants
In case there’s a claim for negligence, or breaches in your duty of care.
What’s typically covered by professional indemnity insurance?
Claims against your IT or software consultancy for professional negligence or a loss-causing breach of contract. This can include:
- advice which turns out to be incorrect
- mistakes in your work that cost others money to fix
For example:
- you advise your client to buy a particular security software option – three months later they suffer a breach, and claim against you for negligence
- the project team misses a deadline and the client blames your employee, claiming their estimates were incorrect and have cost them money through delays
Read more about professional indemnity insurance
Business and office equipment insurance
In case things like your phone or tablet are lost, stolen, or damaged.
What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- theft, flood, fire, or accidental damage to the equipment you use to run your business
- operational equipment like your laptop, office printer, and phone
For example:
- you’re storing hardware for a client in your secure home office, but a flood over the weekend destroys almost everything
- you leave your phone and laptop on the bus while commuting
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Legal expenses insurance
In case you and your IT or software consultancy face legal costs.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs attributed to your IT or software business
- property damage, nuisance, or trespass – specifically, the associated legal claims and compensation payouts
- tax and compliance disputes and investigations you need help with
- access to expert advice – including a tax advice phone line, confidential 24/7 legal phone line, and crisis PR support to help you protect your reputation as a valued consultant
For example:
- an employee gets injured while at work and brings a claim against you, which ends up creating legal costs
- you need to raise a legal claim against your former business partner, and begin to incur costs as a result
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case anyone you’ve covered is accidentally injured, at work or elsewhere.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- accidental injury or death at or outside of work, for anyone covered on the policy
- lost income, medical costs, and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- you’re playing tennis at the weekend and break your arm, meaning you can’t work at full capacity for at least a month
- a client drops heavy machinery on your business partner’s foot while waiting for the lift, and they can’t walk or drive to work
Read more about personal accident insurance
This content has been created for general information purposes. Make sure you have the right level of business insurance by checking your policy documentation for details. Read our full Terms and Conditions
How much does computer consultant insurance cost?
Find out how much you’ll pay by comparing prices from a range of trusted insurers. You choose what goes into your policy, so you only pay for what you need.
Prices start from £3.19 per month
Get your quotes in 7 minutes – prices are guaranteed for 30 days.
Get your tailored quotes in 7 minutes
10% of our customers paid up to £38.32 a year for a public liability insurance policy between 1st April 2023 - 30th June 2023. Equivalent to £3.19 per month based on a monthly cost when paying for the policy in one annual payment. Paying monthly is usually more expensive as you'll pay interest. Most customers pay more than this but some pay less.
Example IT insurance quotes, real prices
£16.38 /month
£143.79 /month
A self-employed IT contractor who works with a number of small to medium-sized clients
- 1-2 years' experience
- Sole trader
- No employees
- Based in Leicester
Public liability
£1,000,000
Employers’ liability
Not included
Professional indemnity
£50,000
Contents & business equipment
Not included
£56.34 /month
£500.83 /month
A small IT contracting firm who work with a number of small to medium-sized clients across a range of industries
- 5+ years' experience
- Limited company
- 2 employees
- Based in York
Public liability
£2,000,000
Employers’ liability
£10,000,000
Professional indemnity
£500,000
Contents & business equipment
£10,000
How we work out example quotes These examples are real quotes from our online system (created 19/03/2021). They’re based on a range of factors, like employees and location. Your own quote will be based on what you tell us about your business. Prices may go up or down from day to day, so the prices you’re quoted may differ to the ones you see here.
What kind of excess should I expect?
An excess is an amount you pay towards any claim you make on your insurance. For example, if your excess is £250 and you make a claim worth £1000, your payout will be a maximum of £750.
Insurance cover | Lowest excess | Highest excess |
|---|---|---|
Public liability | £100 | £2500 |
Employers' liability | No excess | No excess |
Tools | £60 | £500 |
Stock | £100 | £500 |
Business and office equipment | £50 | £750 |
The figures above are for guidance only and any excess applying to your quote may differ. You’ll get a breakdown of the excesses for each quote when you compare with us.
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How do I choose insurance?
Making sure you have the right type and level of business insurance can be the difference between getting a claim paid and having to cover the cost of an expensive accident yourself. Read our tips for guidance on what to consider when buying a policy.
Is public liability enough for third party property damage?
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Does IT consultant insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Is public liability enough for third party property damage?
In some situations you may need more than public liability to cover certain kinds of property damage.
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.
If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.
Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.
Does IT consultant insurance cover my work correctly?
Make sure you're picking the right cover to protect you properly. It's important to know that if you have another trade or job, you'll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider cctv installer insurance or electrical contractors insurance?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:
Other types of insurance
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.
Talk to an expert
Our team of UK-based insurance experts are here to help, Mon 09.00am - 05.30pm, Tues 09.00am - 05.30pm, Weds 09.00am - 05.30pm, Thurs 09.30am - 05.30pm, Fri 09.00am - 05.30pm, Sat 09.00am - 02.00pm
Call our team
How do claims work?
Unlike price comparison websites, we take the hassle out of claims for you. We know how important it is to get your business back on track quickly – and with a minimum of fuss. That’s why you get access to your dedicated claims any time, day or night. Call them on 0333 207 0560 or claim online. They’ll do their best to be fair and supportive. The figure below is rounded across our range of products. Our claims process may vary for different products and operates on a ‘claim by claim’ basis.
£39 million in claims paid out in 2022
Paying 80% of settled claims within 24 hours in 2022
Example claim
Having IT consultant insurance through Simply Business has saved professionals thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Marcello saved more than £2,000
Marcello (not his real name) was walking into his client’s office when his laptop fell out of his bag, smashing the screen on the granite floor. The business and office equipment cover he’d added to his IT consultancy insurance covered the replacement cost.
Insurance payout
£2,047.00
Covering the cost of accidental damage
Marcello’s costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Marcello’s policy terms
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IT consultants insurance FAQs
Whether you’re new to buying business insurance or you’ve been trading for a while, here are the answers to some commonly asked questions about IT consultant insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
The exact insurance you’ll need depends on your business, the clients you work with, and the projects you’re booked on as a software or IT consultant.
Professional indemnity insurance is a key cover for thousands of IT and software consultancies, protecting against claims for negligent professional errors. You can add it to a broader business insurance policy that includes cover for things like accidents, injuries, and damage to your laptop, or buy it as a standalone policy.
Yes. As an IT or software consultant, you may start offering additional services that require you to use different skills or carry out different tasks. If you find yourself in this situation, it’s important to give us a call on 0333 0146 683 to update your policy before you take on this new work. If you don’t have the correct type of cover in place for the work you do, you may be unable to claim on your policy if something goes wrong.
You can choose the payment type that suits your business and cash flow best. Some customers prefer to pay in one go, while others prefer to pay a regular monthly amount, like you do with lots of other bills. Simply Business offer three ways to pay for your policy:
- one-off credit or debit card payment
- BACS payment
- Direct Debit
If you choose to pay by Direct Debit, our credit provider, Premium Credit, pays Simply Business the full amount for your policy up front. You then repay Premium Credit in 10 monthly instalments.
If you change your business legal structure from sole trader to limited company mid-way through your policy, give us a call straight away on 0333 043 8527. It’ll only take us a few minutes to cancel your existing policy and replace it with one that correctly covers your new legal structure. It’s worth bearing in mind that your insurer and premium amount may need to change.
This will depend on whether you have employers’ liability insurance in place. Public liability insurance is designed to protect your business against the consequences of legal action brought by members of the public for injuries or damage to their belongings. But when it comes to your employees causing injury or damage, this protection only activates if you also have employers’ liability insurance.
If you employ people, you’re required by law to have employers’ liability insurance.
There’s one exception here. Family businesses that aren’t incorporated as a limited company are not legally required to have employers’ liability insurance. The government defines a “family business” as one where all your employees are closely related to you (as a spouse, civil partner, sibling, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, step-parent, stepchild or half-sibling). So if you run an unincorporated family business and you choose not to get employers’ liability insurance, it’s important to know that your public liability insurance wouldn’t cover you against damage or injury caused by your team.
We create this content for general information purposes and it should not be taken as advice. Always check policy documentation for details and seek professional advice. Read our full Terms and Conditions
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