Technology liability insurance, also known as Information and Communications Technology (ICT) professional indemnity insurance, protects technology businesses against claims arising from the products they develop and the services they deliver. It responds when a client suffers a financial loss and holds the technology business responsible: whether for a software error, a failed system implementation, a breach of professional duty, or a product that did not perform as specified. As Singapore technology businesses take on increasingly complex delivery obligations, the liability they carry under their client contracts has grown significantly. We structure technology liability cover around the products your business supplies and the services it delivers.
What technology liability insurance covers
Technology liability cover responds to claims for civil liability arising from the provision of technology products and services. It meets the cost of defending the claim and the resulting damages and defence and settlement costs, subject to policy terms and conditions.
The range of triggers is broad. It includes negligent acts, errors and omissions in the delivery of technology services; failure of a technology product to conform to a written specification or to perform as contracted; unintentional breach of professional duty; unintentional transmission of a computer virus; unintentional infringement of intellectual property rights, including copyright, trade secrets, trademarks, and domain names; and unintentional defamation arising in the course of providing technology services.
Technology products covered under these policies are broadly defined and include software, hardware, firmware, cabling, and electronic equipment, together with their design, development, installation, repair, and maintenance. Technology services similarly cover a wide range of activities, including systems consulting, programming, integration, database design, data processing, website design and hosting, internet service provision, and application software provision.
How it differs from standard professional indemnity and cyber insurance
Technology liability insurance addresses a gap that standard professional indemnity and cyber policies do not always fill. A standard professional indemnity policy is designed for advisory professionals such as lawyers, accountants, engineers, and architects, and its trigger is typically negligent advice. A technology business that delivers a defective product, fails to meet a project specification, or causes a client system failure may face claims that a standard PI policy was not designed to respond to.
Cyber insurance, on the other hand, responds to network security incidents and data breaches. It does not typically respond to claims about the performance or fitness for purpose of a technology product, or to project delivery failures that cause a client financial loss without involving a data breach or network security event.
Technology liability insurance sits between the two: it may respond to professional failures in the delivery of technology products and services, including contractual performance failures, technical errors, and professional duty breaches, that cause a client economic loss, subject to the terms and conditions of the specific policy.
Who should consider it
Technology liability cover is relevant to any Singapore business that develops, supplies, installs, or maintains technology products, or that provides technology-related services to clients under contract. This includes software developers and vendors; systems integrators and IT project managers; managed service providers; data centre and hosting operators; IT consultants and technology advisers; website designers and developers; and telecommunications service providers.
It is particularly relevant where the business operates under contracts that specify performance standards, delivery milestones, or service levels, because a failure to meet those terms can give rise to a contractual claim regardless of whether any physical harm occurred. An increasing number of clients and government agencies in Singapore require technology suppliers to hold this cover as a condition of contract.
Where the exposure sits
Two decisions shape whether the cover responds. The first is whether the policy scope accurately reflects the products the business supplies and the services it delivers. Technology liability policies are written on a claims-made basis, meaning the policy in force at the time a claim is made must cover the act or error that gave rise to it. The retroactive date, which is the date from which past acts are covered, determines how far back the protection reaches, and a gap in retroactive cover can leave earlier work unprotected.
The second is whether the contractual requirements of each client engagement are reflected in the policy limit. A large-scale system implementation failure or a data processing error affecting many end users can give rise to a claim that quickly exceeds a policy limit set when the business was smaller. Reviewing the limit against the scale and complexity of current engagements is where the protection is decided.
How we structure it
We take time to understand the technology products your business develops and supplies, the services it delivers, the clients it works with, and the contractual obligations it carries, and we place cover with our appointed insurers around that. We review the cover as the business grows and its engagements change, and we remain your point of contact if a claim is made. The aim is cover that responds to the way your business actually operates, not only to a description of it on a policy schedule.