The short answer
IT consultant insurance usually pairs technology errors and omissions, which responds when a client says your code, configuration or advice caused them a financial loss, with cyber cover for incidents that start in your own systems or spread into a client's. Contracts often decide the limits and wording you need. General liability and equipment cover round it out. A licensed broker reads the contracts and matches the policy to the work.
- Freelance developers and contract programmers billing by the hour or by project
- IT consultants who advise on systems, migrations and security
- Web designers and small agencies building sites, stores and booking tools
- Managed service providers with remote access to client networks
- Contractors placed with clients through a staffing or recruitment firm
1 licensed broker in the network handles this. In Alberta, Canada, a request for it consultant insurance can be offered to up to three of them, chosen because they are licensed for this line and place. They are test brokers while we are in demo.
See the brokers → Outside Alberta, Canada you can prepare and save a request today; sending opens place by place. Brokers answer with their own quotes. Broker.insure does not quote, advise or take commission.
01 / What it covers
The parts worth understanding
Technology errors and omissions
Claims that software you wrote failed, a project ran late, a configuration exposed a client or your advice led them astray, and they lost money. Defence can be the largest part of these claims, so ask whether defence costs sit inside the limit.
Cyber for your own systems
Costs when your laptop, email or code repository is compromised: investigation, restoring systems, notifying people and lost income. A breach of your accounts can hand an attacker a path into every client you serve.
Liability for client data
Claims from clients, or their customers, when data you hosted, processed or could reach was exposed. Some technology policies combine this with errors cover in one wording and others split it, so check where a breach that began in your work would land.
Contract promises and indemnities
Master service agreements often ask you to indemnify the client broadly, accept uncapped liability or promise uptime. A policy may not follow every promise a contract makes, which is why the broker needs to read the clauses.
Subcontractors and offshore help
Work passed to another developer or a team overseas is still yours to answer for with the client. Ask whether the policy covers work done by subcontractors and whether they must hold their own cover.
General liability and equipment
Injury or property damage at a client's premises, such as a server dropped in a data room, plus cover for laptops and test devices. Larger clients often ask for it alongside errors cover.
02 / Get ready
Bring this, and expect these questions
Gather
- A plain description of the services you sell: development, consulting, design, hosting, support or managed services
- Your standard agreement and any client paper you have signed in the past year
- Revenue for the past year and the coming one, split by type of service
- The share of revenue from clients in the United States or elsewhere outside Canada
- Whether you hold remote or administrator access to client systems, and how that access is secured
- The kinds of client data you store, process or can see
- Subcontractors you use, where they are based and whether they carry their own cover
- Your largest client and the share of income it represents
- Security on your own accounts: a second sign-in step, device encryption and backups
- Any client complaint, withheld invoice or project dispute, with dates
A broker will ask
- What do you actually build, run or advise on, and for which industries?
- Do you work under your own contract or under the client's terms?
- Do any contracts promise uptime, delivery dates or specific results?
- Can you reach client systems remotely, and with what level of access?
- Do you host, store or process data for clients, including personal information?
- How much of your work is for clients in the United States, and which law governs it?
- Who else works on client projects, and are they employees or subcontractors?
- Has a client withheld payment, complained or threatened a claim?
- Do you work on software where a failure could cause injury or physical damage, such as health or industrial control systems?
Not sure of an answer? Leave it. "Not known yet" is a fine answer, and a broker will help you fill it in.
03 / Build your request
Answer a few questions. Get your own list.
Pick what fits. Your answers shape the list beside them, and they are saved to your request as plain facts a broker can read. "Not sure yet" is always a fine answer.
04 / Three situations
See which one sounds like yours
A freelance developer signing a credit union's vendor contract
A Calgary developer who builds internal reporting dashboards has been offered a six-month engagement by a regional credit union. The vendor agreement asks for technology errors and cyber cover at stated limits, a certificate before work starts, and an indemnity for any data breach.
First steps. Send the broker the full agreement, not just the insurance page, since indemnity and limitation clauses shape what a policy can answer. Ask whether the stated limits can be met, how the indemnity compares with the cover, and what the certificate must show.
A managed service provider after a client's ransomware attack
A four-person managed service provider in Halifax looks after the networks of twenty small offices through a remote monitoring tool. One client was locked out by ransomware, and its lawyer has written suggesting the provider's patching was late.
First steps. Report the letter to the insurer promptly under the policy's notice terms, and do not discuss fault with the client in writing. Gather the service agreement, patch records and access logs, and ask the broker how the errors and cyber sections would share the claim.
A web designer whose clients are mostly American
A designer in Moncton builds online stores and finds that most new clients now come from the United States through a freelance marketplace. One client's contract names a state court for any dispute and asks for proof of errors cover.
First steps. List clients by country with the governing law in each contract, and send the broker the marketplace terms that mention insurance. Ask whether the policy responds to claims brought in American courts, and whether US revenue changes the terms or must be declared.
05 / Words you will hear
The jargon, in plain words
- Technology errors and omissions
- Professional liability for technology work. It answers claims that software, systems or advice failed and caused a client a financial loss.
- Master service agreement
- A framework contract that sets the terms for all work with a client. It often holds the indemnities, liability caps and insurance requirements that later statements of work rely on.
- Limitation of liability
- Contract wording that caps what one party can claim from the other. Removing or raising the cap changes how much exposure a policy is asked to absorb.
- Indemnity clause
- A promise to pay another party's losses or defence costs in stated situations. Broad indemnities in client contracts may reach beyond what an insurance policy covers.
- Service-level agreement
- Commitments on uptime, response times or fixes, often with credits when they are missed. Insurers may treat those credits differently from a claim for damages.
06 / Common mistakes
What trips people up
- Signing a client's master service agreement with an uncapped indemnity before the broker has seen it.
- Assuming a general liability policy will answer a claim that a website or system failed to work.
- Leaving US clients off the application because the work itself is done from Canada.
- Reusing one password across the code repository, the hosting account and client admin panels.
- Handing work to a subcontractor without a written agreement or proof of their cover.
- Describing the business as web design when the work now includes hosting, security or managed services.
Ready when you are
Turn this into one clear request.
Save it, add what you know, and choose when to send it. A licensed broker who handles it consultant insurance takes it from there.
07 / Questions people ask
Straight answers
What is technology errors and omissions insurance?
It is professional liability written for technology work. It responds when a client says software, a system, a configuration or advice you provided failed or was negligent and caused them a financial loss. It usually pays defence costs and, within limits, settlements. Many technology policies pair it with cyber cover, and a broker can explain how the two parts fit.
Do freelance developers need insurance if clients never ask for it?
No one can say a policy is required unless a contract, a platform or a regulator asks for it. But a dispute over a failed project can be costly to defend whatever its merit, and many clients add insurance clauses as they grow. Bring your contracts and a description of your work, and a broker can explain the exposure you carry.
Does my policy cover work for clients in the United States?
Not always. Some policies limit claims brought in American courts or under American law, and others accept them once they are declared. Insurers may ask what share of revenue comes from US clients and what kind of work it is. Tell the broker where your clients are and which law their contracts name, so the wording matches.
What is the difference between cyber and technology errors and omissions?
Technology errors cover addresses claims that your work or advice harmed a client financially. Cyber cover addresses the costs and claims that follow a security incident, whether it stays in your own systems or spreads to clients. A single event, such as a breach through your remote access tool, can touch both, so ask how the policy handles the overlap.
Why does the broker want to read my contracts?
Contracts often ask you to accept more than ordinary negligence: broad indemnities, uncapped liability, service credits or promises of results. Policies commonly exclude liability you take on only because a contract says so. Reading the clauses lets the broker point out where a promise reaches further than the cover, before you sign rather than after a dispute.
Are my subcontractors covered by my policy?
Some policies cover work done on your behalf by subcontractors, some do not, and some only do when the subcontractor holds their own insurance. A claim from a client usually lands on you regardless of who wrote the code. Keep written agreements and certificates from subcontractors, and ask the broker how your wording treats their work.
General information, not insurance advice. Broker.insure is a directory and request service: it is not an insurer and does not quote, bind or advise. Policy terms, availability and what is required where you live depend on your situation and on licensed professionals. Updated 2026-10-31.