It Consultant professional indemnity insurance from £12/mo

Why do it consultants need PI insurance?

Professional indemnity insurance protects you and your business against the costs of claims made by clients who have suffered loss due to your professional advice or work. For it consultants, this is particularly important as a single mistake or oversight can result in significant financial liability.

The main risks it consultants face include: system failures, data loss, project delays

Regulatory requirement: BCS strongly recommends all practising IT consultants to hold professional indemnity insurance.

What cover level do you need?

The amount of professional indemnity insurance cover you need depends on the size of your business, the types of clients you work with, and the potential value of claims. Most it consultants opt for cover between £500,000 and £2 million.

The right level of cover depends on the size of your projects, your annual revenue, and any contractual requirements from your clients. Leo's comparison tool can help you explore different cover levels and see how they affect your premium.

How much does it cost?

The cost of professional indemnity insurance for it consultants varies depending on:

• The level of cover you choose (typically £500K to £2M)
• Your claims history
• The size and annual turnover of your business
• The specific risks associated with your work
• The insurer and their underwriting criteria

As a guide, it consultants typically pay from £12 per month for professional indemnity insurance.

Common claims and risks for It Consultant

Your IT system design or implementation advice results in a system that proves inadequate for the client's requirements, requiring expensive remediation or system replacement.

Your security recommendations prove insufficient, and the client experiences a data breach or cyberattack through a vulnerability you should have identified.

You fail to account for scalability, performance, or integration requirements in your system design, resulting in a system that fails to meet business needs.

Your data migration or system implementation results in significant data loss or system downtime that disrupts client business operations.

What's typically covered

Professional indemnity insurance for It Consultant typically covers:

• IT system design and specification errors
• Security assessment and recommendation failures
• Implementation and integration errors
• Data loss or corruption during migration
• Failure to account for scalability or performance
• Business interruption from IT failures

Choosing the right policy for It Consultant

IT consultants should hold professional indemnity insurance, particularly those designing business-critical systems or providing security advice. Cover of £1M-£2M is appropriate for most IT consultancies, depending on system criticality and client size. Your policy should cover system design, security recommendations, and implementation advice. If you handle sensitive data, ensure your policy covers data protection compliance. Consultants working on major system implementations or security transformations should consider enhanced cover. BCS membership recommends professional indemnity insurance.

It Consultant PI insurance: key statistics

Approximately 25% of IT consultancies have faced a professional indemnity claim. The average claim is valued at £145,000. System design errors account for 38% of claims, whilst security assessment failures represent 32% of claims. Implementation and migration errors account for 22% of claims.

Frequently asked questions

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