PI insurance and perpetual liability? Run-off insurance...

[jayflat]

I'm planning to do a couple of hours a week as a self-employed contractor/consultant.

Liability scares me so I'm going to take up Personal Indemnity Insurance. But apparently PI insurance only covers *claims* brought whilst insured, not with reference to the work undertaken at that time. This means that a claim could be brought at some time in the future.

I've read that it's important to be insured for (at least) 6 years after the contract. I've heard that 'run-off' insurance covers the situation when you are no longer contracting.

Anyone have any idea of any ball-park figures for run-off insurance - is it in the same range as PI insurance itself? I'm having trouble finding somewhere that offers an online quote for this...

Thanks!!

[expat]

Ask another question: has anybody ever claimed on their PI?

But if you're worried, arrange a sign-off at some suitable time after your contract, and get it written in to the contract that there will be such a sign-off (you don't want a client sayng "we can't say yet" for ever and a day).

Remember that you are liable only if you have been negligent in your professional duty of reasonable skill and care towards the client, and it is up to the client to prove this. Personally I seriously doubt that would be very easy for them to do, though it depends on what kind of work you do. ISTM that if, say, you provide software to a spec, and you deliver it and the client signs off on it as satisfactory, it would be almost impossible for them then to allege negligent liability.

[jayflat]

To be honest, I was more worried about a patent troll or something like that.
Something really obvious might be patented and then I'm liable cos I brought it in