Professional Indemnity Insurance - smartphone app

HerbalBeauty

Hi all,

My business (which is me!) recently developed a smartphone app for iPhone which is now retailing in the App Store. It's a recipe book which teaches people to craft products using harmless natural ingredients. The app contains a detailed disclaimer in terms of liability and basically tells the user not to do anything daft, but I'm still looking for PI insurance.

I have called countless insurance providers and the majority of them seem about as useless as a chocolate tea pot. They read from their tickbox sheet and then I get told that Computer Says No!

As what I'm doing is quite niche, I need a PI insurance provider who is willing to do something a little different. The risks associated with the app are very low (as has been confirmed to me on the phone by a number of insurers) but that doesn't seem to stop them fearing the unknown.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to which insurance providers might be suitable?

Thanks!

Lovelyjoolz

Are you sure that Professional Indemnity is the insurance for you? Perhaps you should be looking more towards Public Liability Insurance?

PI is usually for Architects / Engineers / Accountants and Solicitors.

I suspect this is why you are getting a No answer everywhere you go.

HerbalBeauty

Thanks for your fast response! I discussed this at length with one of the more helpful insurers I spoke to and as the app provides advice to people on how to make things (akin to buying a recipe book in the shop), they assured me I needed PI Insurance. I originally set out to get PL Insurance but was told that was incorrect? Any advice from anyone would be most welcome.

Lovelyjoolz

OK,well, if you definitely need PI insurance, you might have more luck speaking with a specialist broker rather than direct to insurers. A lot of PI policies are underwitten by panels rather than singular insurers, which might be hindering your search.

My PI broker is excellent. We have a working relationship going back 20 years or more, and I really cannot fault them. In the interest of not advertising, I've PM'd you their name and phone number. I really hope they can help you.

phill99

You need public liability insurance. Not professional indemnity. Try a broker as they will have wider access to specialist insurers.

HerbalBeauty

Since posting this thread I have spoken to 3 insurers/brokers, all of whom have disagreed about whether I need Professional Indemnity, Public Liability or Product Liability Insurance. None of them have been able to provide a quote as this is so far out of their normal zone of comfort.

Thank you for the PMs I have received, everyone's been so very helpful. If anyone has any more suggestions for other insurers or brokers I could try, I'd love to hear from you.

rs65

You need to think of what loss you could cause.

I would think there is potential for a Pi loss but can't imagine it would be greater than the policy excess.

Pi covers negligence claims and also things like breach of copyright. It could be useful.

The insurance world doesn't move as fast as the IT world but you could search for an IT consultants package which includes pi and pl and products.

InsideInsurance

Not my favourite company but you may want to contact Towergate as they do indemnity products for a lot of alternative therapists and by the sounds of it you are touching on the edge of their specialty.

Lovelyjoolz

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Not my favourite company but you may want to contact Towergate as they do indemnity products for a lot of alternative therapists and by the sounds of it you are touching on the edge of their specialty.

I wouldn't touch Towergate with a bargepole, to be honest.

InsideInsurance

As I say, they arent my first choice as an organisation as a whole but they are so disparate and fragmented internally that there are some parts that arent too bad and other bits that are much poorer.

For something like vSME PI/PL I wouldnt be too concerned. Personally if I ever made into the world of HNW home insurance then they wouldnt be anywhere on my list.