Insurance for software development companies

Protecting your software development company from the dangers of indemnity and liability on the same policy is essential. If the worst happens, the last thing you want is a chink in your armour brought on by a hole in your protection.

Your software company is shielded from third-party lawsuits by IT liability insurance. It combines general liability and professional indemnity insurance.

It’s a good idea to professionally indemnify yourself in the event that your advice or service causes losses for your client/customer. In the unfortunate event that your software products or IT consulting services somehow cause third-party injury or property damage, the importance of having general liability insurance will never be questioned.

I believe it makes a lot of sense for technology companies to professionally indemnify themselves and have substantial liability cover in place because, no matter how hard they work to deliver an amazing product, anything can happen.

In terms of risk, the software development industry is quite unique. Given the dizzying pace at which the world moves these days, as well as the ever-changing perceptions of corporate responsibility, the risks you face today are unlikely to be the same as those you face tomorrow.

Massive overhead costs, combined with investor pressure, can put your company under tremendous strain to get your product out the door as soon as possible while also meeting all of your clients’ many expectations.

Your customers may be desperate for your product or service to reduce downtime on their end, or the new innovations your software can provide are needed to provide them with the tools they need to improve or change the way they operate. When your company is under such duress, it’s only natural for stress to east away at the productivity of your fantastic employees.

In some ways, I believe it is unfair that external pressures can be the catalyst for delivery delays, coding or design errors, and poor decisions. Apart from costing you money in the short term, it can cost you even more in the long run if the customer/client decides to sue you because the pressure they put you under caused you to make a mistake or two, allowing an inferior product through the door at their end. When you stop and think about it, it’s just so unjust.

Unfortunately, that is the world we live in, so I believe it is unavoidable for a software development company to insure themselves extremely well.

Given how much is at stake, it only makes sense to work with a specialised insurance company that specialises in the technology sector. I’m not going to name any specific insurance company, but it does appear that some stand out significantly more than others. You must be able to protect your company and all of its good people, as well as your vital reputation, and ensure that you have enough money to keep the doors open regardless of the situation.

It just wouldn’t be right to entrust all of this responsibility to an insurance company that isn’t at the top of their game. They must be able to demonstrate that they are on your side and fully understand what you do, how you do it, and all of the risks that you must mitigate.

Naturally, you never want to be in a situation where you need to make a claim.   When that time comes, the last thing you want to hear is that you never considered this particular situation when putting together your policy.   Or, the other thing that could happen is that the insurer decides to make things so complicated that you might as well have never contacted them in the first place.

If you’re going to be paying a reasonably substantial premium to insure yourself against every possible contingency, you need to be supremely confident that you are covered.    When you do make that all important phone call to the insurer one day seeking a claim, you need things to be simple and swift.

This world needs software developers to be at their most creative, constantly blowing our minds with their new amazing products.   Similarly, these companies should be able to offer their amazing employees as a service to consult on what can and cannot be done to improve a company.   

So I hope that software companies are insuring themselves heavily and do everything they can to ensure their long-term viability and I look forward to seeing what they come up with next.