IT consultant insurance
A configuration error or bad advice can cost a client real money, and an accident on their site can cost you too. Public Liability covers injury and damage. Professional Indemnity covers your client's financial loss.
Cover built for IT consulting, software work and security testing.
Public Liability from €7.55 per month, Professional Indemnity from €10.80 per month.
Business insurance, done differently.
Fully online business insurance in Ireland.
A few questions and you're covered.
No lock-in, no long contracts.
Excess from €0, up to €6.5 million of cover.
Why take out business insurance as an IT consultant?
Your clients run their business on your advice, your configuration and your code. When it goes wrong, the cost lands fast:
Your work has financial consequences: A configuration error, a wrong recommendation or a missed detail can cost a client real money. Professional Indemnity covers that financial loss and your defence costs.
You work on other people's sites: At a client's office in Dublin or on a factory floor in Limerick, an accident can injure someone or damage their property. Public Liability takes care of the claim and your defence costs.
Clients ask for proof of cover: Larger companies and public bodies routinely make valid cover a condition of the contract before you can start. Your cover matches the activities you declare when you get your quote.
What is Public Liability insurance?
If a third party, like a client or a member of the public, holds you responsible for an injury or for damage to their property, public liability insurance takes care of your defence costs and any compensation due.
What does it cover?
Injury or property damage caused to others in the course of your work. You choose a cover limit of €1.25 million, €2.5 million or €6.5 million per claim, and up to twice that per insurance year. Optional cover can be added: Employers' Liability (€13 million per claim) if you have staff.
Cover that fits your profession
You describe your activities fully at sign-up, and your cover matches what you actually do: consulting on site, working remotely, or delivering training at a client's premises.
Is it mandatory?
Public liability isn't required by law in Ireland. In practice, many clients, landlords and public bodies require proof of cover before you can work with them. Cover starts from €7.55 per month.
Who needs it?
Any IT consultant who works with clients in person, or whose work brings them onto a client's premises.
What is Professional Indemnity insurance?
Professional Indemnity covers the purely financial loss a client suffers because of a professional mistake: wrong advice, a miscalculation, a missed detail, or an error in something you delivered. It doesn't cover injury or damage to property (that's Public Liability); it's specifically about the financial damage your client suffers because of your work.
What counts as a professional mistake?
Advice that turns out to be wrong, a configuration or specification error, or an error in a deliverable the client relied on.
Who is it for?
People whose work is advice, expertise or deliverables rather than physical work. As an IT consultant, that is the recommendations, specifications and systems your clients pay for.
How does the cover respond?
It's written on a claims-made basis: the claim must be made and reported to us while your policy runs.
Switching to us from another insurer?
Work from up to 5 years back is covered, provided your previous policy would have covered the claim.
Leaving?
Claims about work done while you were insured must be reported before your policy ends, unless run-off cover is arranged.
Cover that fits your profession
You select your activities when you apply, so the policy and its exclusions match what you actually advise on and deliver. You choose a cover limit from €125,000 up to €1.25 million per claim, and up to twice that per insurance year; cover starts at €10.80 per month.
What does our insurance cover for IT consultants?
Our cover for IT consultants runs on both of our products: public liability for injury and property damage, and professional indemnity for the financial loss your work can cause a client.
Public Liability: Protects you if a client or another third party suffers an injury, or their property is damaged, in the course of your work. It takes care of your defence costs and any compensation due. You choose a cover limit of €1.25 million, €2.5 million or €6.5 million per claim.
Professional Indemnity: Covers the financial loss a client suffers because of your advice, your specifications or the work you deliver. Cover limits from €125,000 to €1.25 million per claim.
Employers' Liability (optional): If you employ staff, this covers your liability as an employer, with a limit of €13 million per claim.
Which cover do you need?
Most IT consultants are exposed to both. One covers injury and damage, the other financial loss from your work. You can combine them in one Insify policy. Cover limits, excess and exclusions apply.
Public Liability insurance
Covers claims when your work injures someone or damages something that belongs to them. For example, someone trips over your equipment, or you damage a floor while working at a client's premises.
- Choose your cover: from €1.25 million up to €6.5 million per claim, and up to twice that per insurance year
- Excess from €0, depending on your turnover
- Staff? Add optional Employers' Liability with €13 million cover per claim
- Most relevant when your work brings you into contact with clients, the public, their premises or their belongings
Professional Indemnity insurance
Covers purely financial loss a client suffers through a professional mistake, oversight or wrong advice, with no injury or property damage involved. Think of work a client claims was unfit for purpose and cost them money.
- Choose your cover: from €125,000 up to €1.25 million per claim, and up to twice that per insurance year
- Excess from €0, depending on your turnover
- Most relevant when clients pay you for advice, programmes and plans
What's covered
IT consulting, including recommending hardware, software and communications technology and helping put it in place
Building, customising, testing and supporting software
Application management
Security strategy, cyber and business-continuity risk mapping, and access and identity management
Security auditing, vulnerability and penetration testing, troubleshooting and ICT testing
Coaching, and running training courses, seminars and events
Working at client sites, and travelling for the job
The premises you work from
Placing your own staff with a client, or taking an interim management role
Optional: employers' liability once you have staff, with €13 million of cover per claim
Promising or guaranteeing a result, such as a yield or a profitability figure
A contract clause that increases your liability beyond what the law would impose, such as a penalty, a warranty, or a performance commitment
Patent infringement
Running a social media platform or a streaming service
Work on machines that directly control a manufacturing process, such as programmable logic controllers, or on airport baggage handling systems
Errors that are entirely a third party's responsibility, or a third party's internet or telecoms failure, where you have given up your right to claim against them
Cover and exclusions shown are indicative and non-contractual. Only the terms of your policy apply.
Claim examples for IT consultants
A configuration error you made during a migration takes a Dublin retailer's order system offline for 2 days. Professional Indemnity covers the client's financial loss and your defence costs.
You recommend a system a Cork wholesaler cannot use as specified, and they pay to have the rollout redone. Professional Indemnity covers the financial loss and your defence costs.
While you are working on site at a client's office, a member of their staff trips over your equipment and is injured. Public Liability covers your defence costs and the compensation due.
A configuration error you made during a migration takes a Dublin retailer's order system offline for 2 days. Professional Indemnity covers the client's financial loss and your defence costs.
You recommend a system a Cork wholesaler cannot use as specified, and they pay to have the rollout redone. Professional Indemnity covers the financial loss and your defence costs.
While you are working on site at a client's office, a member of their staff trips over your equipment and is injured. Public Liability covers your defence costs and the compensation due.
Examples are for illustrative purposes only. Compensation depends on the exact circumstances of the claim. No rights can be derived from these examples.
Your business insurance with Insify SmartGuide
Taking out insurance can be quick. Making sure you have the right cover is another matter. With Insify SmartGuide, you don't sign a contract blindly. You ask all your questions, and get clear, immediate and personalised answers, before you take out a policy.
Are you covered if you accidentally damage a client's equipment while working?
What excess should you choose?
Are you protected in the event of a dispute with a client?
Insify SmartGuide guides you step by step to understand what's covered, what isn't, and why. In just a few clicks, you build insurance that's truly tailored to your business, with complete confidence. Try Insify SmartGuide. Understand your insurance before you need it.
How to choose the right insurance as an IT consultant?
Criteria to compare:
The cover offered: Check that the policy matches the real risks of your work; claims about your advice and your deliverables, and injury or damage you might cause while working on a client's site. Make sure every service you provide is declared and covered.
The price: Compare premiums, but prioritise cover that fits IT work. An attractive price can hide exclusions that matter for your activity.
The excess: Find out what stays at your own expense when a claim happens, whether it is a dispute over a deliverable or an incident at a client's premises.
The exclusions: Watch out for exclusions specific to IT work; undeclared services, patent questions, contractual clauses that increase your liability, and marketing that promises guaranteed results.
The service: An incident can surface at any moment. Choose an insurer that's easy to reach and understands technical work. At Insify, our online support team knows the specifics of your work.
Mistakes to avoid: Don't settle for a generic policy that ignores the risks of consulting. Check that both your professional work and your day-to-day presence on client sites are covered. Compare it with management consultant insurance and the wider consulting and services insurance range if you advise outside IT too. To secure your business today, discover our public liability and professional indemnity insurance.
More than 40,000 entrepreneurs trust us
When I had to make a claim, I was amazed how quickly and efficiently it was handled. Within a few days I had a resolution.
Very friendly, quick and thorough. It gives me real confidence in taking out the cover. The company feels genuinely transparent, exactly what I look for. You don't find that often.
Very friendly, quick and thorough. It gives me real confidence in taking out the cover. The company feels genuinely transparent, exactly what I look for. You don't find that often.
When I had to make a claim, I was amazed how quickly and efficiently it was handled. Within a few days I had a resolution.
The cover itself was sorted quickly, and when I later needed support I got that fast too.
Very friendly, quick and thorough. It gives me real confidence in taking out the cover. The company feels genuinely transparent, exactly what I look for. You don't find that often.
When I had to make a claim, I was amazed how quickly and efficiently it was handled. Within a few days I had a resolution.
The cover itself was sorted quickly, and when I later needed support I got that fast too.
Answers to your questions about our insurance for IT consultants
Most IT consultants need both of our covers. Public liability takes care of your defence costs and the compensation due if a client or another third party is injured, or their property is damaged, in the course of your work. Professional indemnity covers the purely financial loss a client suffers because of your advice, your specifications or something you delivered. For most IT consultants the professional indemnity exposure is the larger one, because the work is advice and deliverables rather than physical. You can get a quote for both online in minutes.
Insurance isn't required by law for a self-employed IT consultant in Ireland. In practice, larger companies and public bodies routinely make valid cover a condition of the contract before you can start work, and some framework agreements set a minimum cover limit. Having cover in place also means you are not personally exposed if a client claims against you after a project goes wrong.
Public liability covers injury or property damage you cause to others in the course of your work, for example a visitor who trips over your equipment at a client's office. Professional indemnity covers purely financial loss caused by your professional work, for example a configuration error that takes a client's system offline for a day. As an IT consultant your biggest exposure is usually financial, but on-site accidents happen too. Many IT consultants take out both, and you can combine them in one Insify policy.
The price depends on your turnover, your activities, your headcount and the cover limit and excess you choose. At Insify, public liability for an IT consultant starts from €7.55 per month and professional indemnity from €10.80 per month. A personalised quote takes a few minutes online, and you can adjust the cover limit and excess to see how they affect your premium.
Yes, that is what professional indemnity is for. It covers the purely financial loss a client suffers because of wrong advice, a miscalculation, a configuration or specification error, or an error in something you delivered, and it covers your defence costs if the client takes the claim further. Cover runs from €125,000 up to €1.25 million per claim, and up to twice that per insurance year. It is written on a claims-made basis, so the claim must be made and reported to us while your policy runs.
Yes. Consulting and support in the field of software, system, network and data security is part of the covered activities, including auditing and the execution of vulnerability and penetration tests. Determining a security strategy, mapping cybersecurity and business continuity risks, and access and identity management are covered too. The important part is to declare this work when you apply, so the policy reflects it. If your services change later, update your policy so the new work is covered.
No. Public liability and professional indemnity are liability covers: they respond to claims other people make against you, not to damage to your own things. Insify does not sell property or contents cover in Ireland, so your own laptop, servers and tools are not insured under this policy. If you need cover for your own equipment, you will need a separate policy elsewhere.
The excess is the part of a claim you pay yourself. For example, if a claim settles at €4,000 and your excess is €500, you pay €500 and Insify pays €3,500. The options are €0, €250, €500, €1,000 and €2,500, with €0 and €250 available up to €500,000 annual revenue; above that the minimum is €500. A higher excess usually lowers your premium but means more out of pocket when a claim happens; a lower excess costs a little more each month and limits surprises.