indemnity insurance necessary IT contract work?

qwertyjjj

Is there any need to have indemnity insurance when operating as an IT programmer/contractor?

Ideally, I would like to operate my next job as self employed but not bother with indemntiy insurance.

However, some places require you to either be LTD or operate through an umbrella company.

Also, if you get the job through a recruitment agency (ie they find people rather than employ them directly), can you operate as self employed or would the recruiter then be required to pay employers NI?

Pennywise

If the client/agency requires you to have PI insurance and/or requires you to operate via a limited company or umbrella, then you have a choice - either comply or you won't get the work. Both are standard practice. If you won't comply, then the work will be given to someone else.

qwertyjjj

Pennywise wrote: »

If the client/agency requires you to have PI insurance and/or requires you to operate via a limited company or umbrella, then you have a choice - either comply or you won't get the work. Both are standard practice. If you won't comply, then the work will be given to someone else.

I meant more, is PI required in general.
It's not too expensive to get PI per month and operate as self employed I'm sure so I guess it's up to the company.

What I meant was, do recruitment agencies generally require you to be LTD or umbrella? Are they required to pay NI fcor you even if they are only finding people to fill seats?

Andy_L

Can poor programming on your part casue someone a claimable loss? If it can then you need PI cover

qwertyjjj

Andy_L wrote: »

Can poor programming on your part casue someone a claimable loss? If it can then you need PI cover

Usually any poor programming should be caught in the company's checking processes so it's a question of who's to blame at that point.