Cover built for IT businesses, contractors, and service providers. For when your work causes a client a loss.
If you provide IT services to other businesses — support, managed services, implementation, contracting, systems work — a single mistake can cost a client real money, and they can look to you to cover it. IT Liability insurance is the cover that responds.
What is IT Liability insurance?
IT Liability (also called ICT insurance, or IT professional indemnity) is specialised cover for businesses and contractors that work in information technology. At its core it combines Professional Indemnity (PI), for claims that your IT work, advice, or services caused a client a financial loss, and Public Liability (PL), for third-party injury or property damage connected to your work, including on client sites.
For many IT businesses, cyber cover is arranged alongside this, either packaged into the policy by some insurers, or as a separate cyber policy. We can arrange it either way. It's the cover most IT businesses need, and the one your clients most often require you to hold.
What this covers
A generic business or Professional Indemnity policy, the kind sold to consultants and advisers broadly, often excludes technology-specific failures. IT Liability is built to respond to how IT work actually goes wrong.
Professional Indemnity — for IT work:
| Covered | What it means for an IT business |
|---|---|
| Faulty work or advice | Your configuration, integration, or recommendation causes a client loss |
| Failed implementation | A rollout or migration doesn't work as contracted |
| System downtime | A client's systems go down and it costs them, and they claim it back |
| Data loss or corruption | Client data is lost or damaged in your care |
| Missed deadlines / SLA breach | You don't meet the service levels you contracted to |
| Breach of contract | You fall short of agreed deliverables |
Public Liability — third-party injury or property damage, which matters because IT contractors and MSPs are frequently on client premises. Often required in service contracts.
Why your clients require it
For most IT businesses, IT Liability isn't just risk management, it's a condition of winning work. Business clients, especially larger ones, government, and enterprise, routinely require their IT suppliers and contractors to hold PI and PL cover, and to prove it with a certificate of currency before work starts.
No cover, no contract. If a client requires $5M and you hold $1M, you can't sign, or you're in breach if you do. It's worth having the right cover in place before you're mid-tender.
FAQs
What is IT Liability insurance?
IT Liability (also called ICT insurance) is cover for IT businesses and contractors, combining Professional Indemnity (for claims your IT work caused a client a loss) and Public Liability (for third-party injury or property damage). Cyber cover is arranged alongside it, packaged or separately.
Who needs IT Liability insurance?
IT support providers, MSPs, IT contractors and consultants, systems integrators, and IT services firms, essentially any business doing IT work that other businesses rely on. It's also frequently required by client contracts.
Is IT Liability the same as ICT insurance?
Effectively yes, the terms are used interchangeably. Both refer to Professional Indemnity and Public Liability built for technology work, with cyber arranged alongside. "IT Liability" is the more common term for IT services and contracting businesses.
How much IT Liability cover do I need?
Usually driven by your client contracts. Common requirements are $1M–$5M Professional Indemnity and $10M–$20M Public Liability. Your limits should meet the highest requirement in the contracts you're signing.
Does IT Liability cover cyber incidents?
Not automatically. Some insurers package cyber into the IT Liability policy; many cover PI/PL only, with cyber arranged separately. If you hold or access client data, make sure cyber is covered, and check the policy doesn't carry a full cyber exclusion.
Do IT contractors need IT Liability insurance?
Almost always, client contracts typically require it before you can start, and a single error on a client's systems can cause a loss far larger than your contract fee.