IT contractor insurance
Join over 8,500 IT contractors like you with cover from £3.49 per month*
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Rated 4.7/5
Based on 39,770 reviews
Claims paid in 24 hours
For 80% of settled claims
Why do you need IT contractors insurance?
You’re dealing with clients, plus their hardware and your own. Accidents are bound to happen, especially with more of us working remotely. IT contractors’ insurance is built to work hand-in-hand with these risks, freeing you up to get on with the next big project.
- protection from big claims if you make a mistake or anything gets damaged
- cover for the essentials from the contents of your office to legal expenses
- support if you’re in an accident and can’t carry on working
What does IT contractor insurance cover?
From multiple infrastructure components to the newest software, your work is complex. As the expert, we put you in control of what goes into your policy, but stay on-hand to help with any questions. Start with your liability insurance for accidents and damage, and build from there.
Public liability insurance
In case someone suffers property damage or injury because of your IT business.
Employers’ liability insurance
In case something happens to an employee while they’re working for you.
Professional indemnity insurance
In case you make a mistake in your work or your service doesn’t meet the client’s expectations.
Business and office equipment insurance
In case things like your laptop or client hardware are lost, stolen or damaged.
Portable equipment
In case something happens to your equipment while you’re off-site.
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re hit with legal costs while running your business.
Personal accident insurance
In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident.
Public liability insurance
In case someone suffers property damage or injury because of your IT business.
What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for IT contractors?
Claims against your business for:
- damage you’ve caused to someone else’s property while working, or as a result of your work
- someone else being injured while you’re working, or because of your work
- accidental injury or damage caused by your employee (if you employ anyone, you’re legally required to have employers’ liability insurance too)
For example:
- while installing new software on a client’s system you trip on a cable you’ve just put in, pulling the monitor off the desk and damaging it
- you’re fitting some new equipment in a client’s office, but while fitting a cable you accidentally damage the wall
Read more about public liability insurance
Employers’ liability insurance
In case something happens to an employee while they’re working for you.
What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?
Claims against your business for:
- an employee – even if they’re a temp or casual worker – suing you because they fall ill through working for you
- any of your employees suing you for injury
**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:
- one of your employees is installing new hardware but you’ve provided a faulty cable, which electrocutes them and burns their hand
- you’ve supplied an employee with a faulty chair, which collapses when they sit down
Professional indemnity insurance
In case you make a mistake in your work or your service doesn’t meet the client’s expectations.
What’s typically covered by professional indemnity insurance for an IT contractor?
Claims against your business for:
- financial losses suffered by your client due to professional negligence
- advice you give that’s incorrect
- other errors in your work that cost your client money
For example:
- you set up your client’s security software but miss a gap in their network, exposing their data and causing a GDPR breach
- you’re contracted to set up the hardware for an entire business but the job takes longer than your original quote, delaying their start-up date
Read more about professional indemnity insurance
Business and office equipment insurance
In case things like your laptop or client hardware are lost, stolen or damaged.
What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?
- theft, loss or damage to the equipment you use to run your business
For example:
- hardware you’re storing for a client is destroyed in a fire, and needs replacing
- your laptop is stolen during an office break-in
Read more about business and office equipment insurance
Portable equipment
In case something happens to your equipment while you’re off-site.
What’s typically covered by portable equipment insurance?
- loss, damage or theft of your portable equipment such as your laptop, tablet or phone
For example:
- your work phone is stolen on your train commute
- you leave your bag in a taxi, which contains your client’s new cables
Legal expenses insurance
In case you’re hit with legal costs while running your business.
What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?
- legal costs resulting from your normal business activities, like an employee dispute
- the cost of legal claims due to property damage, nuisance or trespass
- HMRC investigations or tax and compliance disputes
- includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline, and crisis PR support to help protect your professional reputation
For example:
- a client is over two months late on payments for a contract, forcing you to take legal action
- HMRC investigates your business tax accounts
Read more about legal expenses insurance
Personal accident insurance
In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident.
What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?
- injury or death at or outside of work, for anyone covered on the policy
- lost income, medical costs and hospitalisation benefit
For example:
- you trip over the curb on your way into work, breaking your arm
- an employee twists their ankle at a weekend event, and can’t drive into the office
Read more about personal accident insurance
How much does IT contractors 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
*The price is for £1 million of public liability insurance - 10% of customers paid £41.87 or less annually between 1st Oct 2023 - 31st Mar 2024. Equivalent to £3.49/month (and excludes the extra costs for paying monthly). If you complete a quote more types of cover will be available, these all have additional costs.
Example IT contractor insurance quotes, real prices
£16.38 /month
£143.79 /year
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 /year
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 14/12/2020). 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 |
|---|---|---|
Professional indemnity | No excess | £2500 |
Public liability | £200 | £750 |
Contents | £100 | £750 |
Portable equipment | £100 | £500 |
Employers liability | No excess | No excess |
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.
How it works
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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.
Which type of workers do I need insurance for?
Does IT contractor insurance cover my work correctly?
Do I need cover for other types of work?
Which public liability cover limit should I choose?
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 contractor 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 insurance through Simply Business has saved computer contractors thousands of pounds when the unexpected happened.
Ian saved £1,900.00
Ian (not his real name) was on his way to work when he dropped his bag on an escalator, damaging two laptop screens beyond repair. Luckily, insurance for IT contractors covers this type of accidental damage.
Insurance payout
£1,900.00
Covering the cost of accidental damage.
Ian's costs
£100
The excess amount stated in Ian's policy terms
Chosen by 900,000 small businesses and landlords
We started out as a team of five back in 2005. We’ve grown since then with 900,000 customers across 1,500 trades now trusting us to provide their business insurance.
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IT contractor 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 contractor insurance. You can also check out our business insurance FAQs.
Yes. It’s important to make sure you have the right type and level of insurance for the different types of work you do. For example, if you’re a IT contractor, you may also provide consultancy on certain jobs – you’ll need additional cover for this, but you can have it all on the one policy. When you start your quote, you’ll have the option to add another trade or profession to your policy. If you need to add a third trade, give us a call on 0333 043 8527 and one of our insurance experts will help you set up your policy in minutes.
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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