{"id":14902,"date":"2019-01-21T09:54:11","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T09:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.policybee.co.uk\/blog\/?p=14902"},"modified":"2024-09-26T13:31:26","modified_gmt":"2024-09-26T12:31:26","slug":"it-contractor-insurance-on-hold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.policybee.co.uk\/blog\/it-contractor-insurance-on-hold","title":{"rendered":"Putting your insurance on hold as an IT contractor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Contract ended? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinking about jetting off to your favourite hot spot for a holiday?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019ve earned it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know from our research<\/a> IT\u2019s become an increasingly stressful industry to work in. And a lot of the stress is caused by the long working hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, it\u2019s got so bad, 1 in 6 IT consultants say they\u2019re\nthinking about getting out of the industry altogether. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if you\u2019re thinking about having some downtime \u2013 even if it\u2019s just a long break between contracts \u2013 don\u2019t cancel your insurance<\/a>. Put it on hold instead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why it pays to put your insurance on hold<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most of the time a contract starts and ends without a\nhiccup. But no matter how good you are at your job, there\u2019s always the risk a\nclient could claim you made a mistake. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say you cancelled your policy the moment your contract\nended. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A month later, tanned and relaxed, you\u2019re sunning yourself\nat the beach. Not a cloud in the sky, work\u2019s the last thing on your mind. You\u2019re\njust wondering which cocktail you\u2019ll have tonight, when your mobile pings. It\u2019s\nan email. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something\u2019s gone wrong with your last job. And the client\u2019s\nblaming you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You go white under your tan for a moment. Then relax. That\nPI policy you bought for the contract, it protects you from negligence claims,\ndoesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Er, \u2018fraid not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professional indemnity insurance<\/a> is a \u2018claims made<\/a>\u2019 policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What that means is, you\u2019re only protected if you were\ninsured when you did the work and <\/em>when\na claim is made.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You cancelled your policy, remember? The claim\u2019s come in a\nmonth after you cancelled it. So your past work\u2019s not covered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forget the cocktail, you need to get off that beach and on\nthe next plane home. Because without insurance, even if it turns out you didn\u2019t\ndo anything wrong, you\u2019ll have to pay for your legal defence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you are at fault, there\u2019ll be compensation to pay to\nyour client, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protection factor<\/strong> 50<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ideal for when you\u2019re between contracts, hibernation means the same in the insurance world as it does in IT. In hibernate mode, your policy stays in place. It just powers down, saving the work you\u2019ve done in the past. (You’ll need to power it back up again for any new work.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s more, while you\u2019re flexing your wallet on holiday, you\u2019re saving money. Your annual PI premium could be reduced by up to 50% while your policy\u2019s in hibernation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All you have to do is tell us when you want to put your\npolicy on hold. We\u2019ll do the rest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t run off without run-off cover<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re thinking of quitting IT altogether, look into getting run-off<\/a> cover. It\u2019s because of this \u2018claims made\u2019<\/a> thing again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can take years for mistakes to surface. When they do, it\ndoesn\u2019t matter if you just quit IT or retired completely. If it\u2019s your fault,\nthe cost of fixing the problem is down to you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Run-off cover starts when you stop working as an IT\nconsultant. It\u2019s not a full-blown PI policy, so your premium goes down over\ntime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It won\u2019t cover you for any new contracts, though. Just the\nwork you\u2019ve done in the past. So, if you have a change of heart \u2013 come out of\nretirement, or decide to go back into IT \u2013 you\u2019ll need to ramp up your\nprotection again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s no minimum or maximum time IT professionals are expected to have run-off cover. Six years<\/a> from the alleged incident date is the limit for claims. Whether that\u2019s too long or too short a timeframe is your call. Have a think about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, if you\u2019d like some advice, just give us a ring. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image used under license from Shutterstock.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contract ended? Thinking about jetting off to your favourite hot spot for a holiday? You\u2019ve earned it. We know from our research IT\u2019s become an increasingly stressful industry to work in. And a lot of the stress is caused by … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[45,161,150,154],"class_list":["post-14902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-professional-indemnity-insurance","tag-claims-2","tag-it-contractors","tag-managing-risk","tag-run-off-cover"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nPutting your insurance on hold as an IT contractor<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"IT contractors taking a break from work, don't cancel your professional indemnity insurance. Stay protected. Put it on hold instead. 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