Exposures faced by IT firms - Are you protected?
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You don't have to do anything wrong to be sued! Some examples below highlight that all IT firms have an exposure. Sometimes this is because of errors in their business and other times it can be due to percieved errors or simply competitors trying to put them out of business. As technology, media and telecoms insurance specialists, much of our time is spent keeping on top of these dynamic sectors. We listen and talk regularly with clients, lawyers and industry experts to get the insight we need to continually refine our products. You can feel supremely confident our cover is thorough, adaptable, realistic and ultimately more effective.
Large Experienced Firm - Multi Million Claim - IT firm contracted to supply and implement customised software. $7 million project value.
- Client claimed there were fundamental flaws in the software.
- In spite of working through fixes, a large number of critical flaws remained.
- A letter of claim was then received claiming $9 million in damages.
Small Technology Business
- Case where the firm probably would have become insolvent without the assistance of insurance.
- A larger competitor made an offer to purchase - "you can become our best friend or worst enemy".
- The offer was declined.
- The competitor then issued legal proceedings alleging copyright infringement, trade mark infringement, passing off and breach of confidence. The motivation was to put this small firm out of business.
Data Breach - Privacy leaks have a habit of going from bad to worse in a short space of time. The adverse publicity this brings is a redictable feature of this.
- Being aware of this risk and dealing with it quickly and effectively can make a huge difference to the
eventual outcome for the effected customers and the business that leaked the data. - This business is one that scans and indexes documents, including medical records.
- A broadcaster contacted this business to advise it had obtained confidential medical records.
- The business used their insurance policy to manage the PR and press coverage arising from the issue.
- No claim was subsequently brought.
VOIP Supplier
- VOIP system to consumer. Successfully installed and client was happy.
- Customer received an unusually large bill from the telco (€50,000) instead of their usual €3,000). The majority of costs related to calls made to Nigeria, Cuba and Mexico by unauthorised third parties.
- Investigation showed that a firewall port was left open in error and enabled third party hackers to defraud the customer.
- The port was closed and the customer blamed the supplier. Our claims team was in the position to pay the outstanding fees and the insured was saved a bill of €50,000.
For further information please contact Miriam Casserley at O'Leary Insurance Ltd, by email technology@oli.ie or by telephone at 021 4536800.
O’Leary Insurances Ltd. is regulated by The Central Bank of Ireland. Registered in Ireland, Company Registration No. 18930, Registered Office: Lough Mahon House, Blackrock, Cork. Telephone calls are recorded for training quality and verification purposes.
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