What insurance do government IT contracts require?

Insurance requirements are a common, avoidable reason small firms can't bid. They're easy to fix if you check early, because getting or raising cover can take weeks.

The usual policies

• Professional liability: claims that your advice or work was faulty and caused a loss. The most important one for IT services.
• Commercial general or public liability: injury and property damage, for example at the buyer's offices.
• Cyber liability: data breaches and ransomware, often asked for when you handle personal data or connect to the buyer's systems.
• Workers' compensation or employer's liability, where you have employees and the law requires it.
• Product liability if you supply hardware, and automobile liability if you'll drive to sites.

Read the small print

• Whether the limit is per claim or aggregate.
• Whether the buyer must be named as an additional insured.
• How long professional liability must continue after the contract ends.
• Whether a lower level is acceptable at bid time, with proof you'll raise it on award.
• Whether your cover broadly matches the contract's limitation of liability.

Next step

Send the insurance clauses of the tenders you plan to bid on to your broker, get a certificate of insurance showing the policies and limits, and keep it in your bid library with a renewal reminder. See insurance for government IT contracts.