You didn't write the bug, but you signed off the launch
You don't touch the code, but you own the delivery, so when a technology project fails, whether it's a vendor left unmanaged, a risk nobody escalated, or a go-live you signed off despite the warnings, the project manager is the one who's accountable. Professional indemnity cover, built for IT project management.
Where an IT project manager actually gets exposed
Your risk isn't a technical mistake. It's a management one. If the client can argue you failed to manage the vendor, the risk, or the sign-off properly, and it cost them, that's a professional indemnity claim, and standard business cover won't answer it.
The go-live that should have been delayed
You sign off on a system launch despite known risk flags from the testing team. The launch fails within days, taking core business processes down with it.
The client argues a competent project manager would have delayed the go-live, and bills you for the cost of the outage and the fix.
The vendor that was never properly managed
You're engaged to manage a systems implementation delivered by a third-party vendor. Delivery slips month after month without proper escalation, and the project blows out well beyond budget.
The client argues you failed to manage the vendor relationship, and seeks the cost of the overrun.
The scope that quietly grew
Requirements shift over the course of a project without formal change control. By delivery, the budget has blown out well past the original approval, and no one signed off on the growth.
The client says a properly run project would have caught and escalated the scope creep before it became a budget problem.
Who's going to ask you for it
It's how agencies and panels place you
For IT project managers, cover is usually a condition of being placed at all:
- Recruitment and consulting agencies won't place you on a client engagement without a current certificate of currency.
- Government and enterprise PM panels set minimum professional indemnity limits before you're onboarded.
- PMO and consulting firms subcontracting you flow their own insurance requirements down.
The exclusion project managers assume is covered
The most common trap is assuming "I don't code, so I'm not a tech risk." That leads people to buy generic management liability cover instead of insurance built for technology delivery. A claim that you failed to manage a system rollout is still a professional services claim tied to a tech project, and generic cover often won't respond properly.
Separately, liquidated damages you agreed to in a vendor or client contract, beyond your actual legal liability, are typically excluded.
Common questions
I don't write code or configure systems, where's my risk?
Your risk is in the management decisions: sign-offs, vendor oversight, escalation calls. A claim that you managed a technology project negligently is still a professional indemnity claim, and it needs cover built for tech delivery, not generic management liability.
How is this different from cover for a developer?
A developer's exposure is mostly in the code they ship; a project manager's is in the decisions and oversight. ICT cover carries professional indemnity for both, so it fits whether you're building or managing.
What limit do I need?
Take it from your engagement terms or the panel requirement: it will state a minimum, often $1M–$5M, more for government or enterprise programs. If a contract's insurance clause is unclear, we'll read it with you before you buy.
An agency needs a certificate of currency before I start, how quickly?
Once bound, a certificate is fast to issue. If a placement is waiting on it, let us know and we'll prioritise it.
Does it cover a project I managed before I was insured?
Professional indemnity is claims-made. It generally responds to claims made while you're insured, provided you weren't already aware of the problem. It's best to have cover in place before a dispute surfaces.