Recruit IT
Contractor Care Insurance
IT Contracting? - You need Protection!
Recruit IT is pleased to be able to provide a low cost IT Contractor Insurance Policy which is available to all IT contractors regardless of whether you contract through our agency or not. All you need to be is a candidate of Recruit IT. Through our buying power we can provide a policy that is substantially cheaper than the market rate and that of other providers. In fact it can be as little as 1/3 of the cost of equivalent policy premiums! This policy is underwritten by a multi national insurance provider too– Lumley General Insurance (NZ).
So what is Professional Indemnity and Public Liability Insurance?
It's the kind of insurance that protects your business from financially crippling or reputation damaging claims by dissatisfied clients. Here are some important factors to consider:
- Mistakes can be costly. You carry a responsibility to your recruitment firm and their/your client. Both can have recourse against you for financial loss. The chance of a claim is small, but the chance of a claim being large is high.
- Clients are increasingly asking to see proof of Professional Indemnity insurance before awarding a contractor or recruitment firm a contract. Your need to ensure you have protection as the client will have recourse against your assets directly or indirectly if you don’t.
- Deadlines are a fact of life, but sometimes in the race to get the job done, mistakes happen, causing loss or damage to clients and potentially resulting in huge claims made against you. Without it, your business, even your home could be at risk.
How will it protect you?
It will cover you if you make a mistake in the professional services you have provided that leads to a dispute with a client. If the dispute becomes complicated and nasty, your Insurer can defend your claim – right through to the High Court if necessary. Even if you lose, the policy will still cover you for any damages you then become liable for, subject to the level of cover you are insured for.
If you need further convincing check out the following real claims examples:
An IT Contractor was hired to write a database for a firm to track its customer base, with the expectation of future increased sales. Due to a software bug, the database never functioned properly leading to lost sales.
The consultant settled for over $25,000 in damages.
An IT Contractor was a web site specialist. He was retained to build an online booking system for a travel company. It was alleged that the system contained coding errors causing it to crash. The cost of the claim included the cost of re-programming a new system and lost sales incurred during the system downtime.
The Insurers settled for $700,000.
A systems integrator was contracted to install a computer system to manage information regarding the Client's insurance policies. The contractor failed to meet established deadlines and deliver a functioning system. The client sued alleging the contractor sold the system knowing it could not be delivered on time and function as sold.
Over $1,000,000 in damages were sought.
A software programmer delivered an invoicing system to her client with software bugs that could not be fixed in a timely manner. The client sued alleging that due to poor functionality, they could not timely collect receivables due.
The Insurers settled for over $25,000 in damages.
So how much is it?
This policy is yours and yours only. You share this policy with no-one and it covers you for all of your IT Activities irrespective of who you are contracted to. You are in control of the renewal of this policy – only you can renew it, only you can cancel it.
Annual Cost
The annual cost of an IT specific $1,000,000 Professional Indemnity and Public Liability cover will cost you $599 +GST.
For an IT specific $2,000,000 Professional Indemnity and Public Liability cover it will cost you $809 +GST. But you can of course set your own limit specific to your own needs.
PAYG Model
This is a good low cost entry option if you don’t want to commit to paying a year’s insurance or unsure on whether you will be contracting in say 3 months time.
Our PAYG Model (Pay As You Go Model) is set up for those who wish to pay a set monthly fee as opposed to an annual premium. Ask our consultant for more information about this option if interested.
How PAYG works:
A premium of $75.00 +GST applies for each month or part month that you are under contract. Eg: contract from 01 – 31 May and you will be charged $75.00 +GST, work from 01 May to 15 June and you will be charged $150.00 +GST. Please Note: Our PAYG Model is not available to non Recruit IT contractors as the premium is designed to be deducted from your normal monthly invoice payment.
Download Online Application Form
To contact us for more information or to join our IT ContractorCare service:
Holly Fenn
holly@recruitit.co.nz
ph: (04) 913-1216
For specific insurance technical detail contact our insurance provider directly:
Clive O Brien
clive.obrien@advicefirst.co.nz
ddi: 04 495 2288