Getting a Business Insurance covering HTML5 Game Development

[Nodragem]

Hello,

I am looking for insuring my business (as a Sole Trader). I quickly realised that, in UK, big insurance companies (e.g. AXA, SimplyBusiness) would not insure video game developers (at least for the professional indemnity).

They told me to look for insurance companies specialised in insuring game developers. 

I open this thread so that we can share:

- our experience with finding a business insurance

- which insurance companies have been satisfactory so far.

Hope this thread will be useful to some of us.

[b10b]

@Nodragem I'm going to drop you a PM with a link to who we use (a UK-based underwriter).

More generally, Professional Liability, E&O, Cyber, Privacy & Media cover is considerably easier to acquire today than it was 5-10 years ago - and much cheaper.  I am unsure why this is, perhaps due to the increase in smaller firms around the tech space, or perhaps due to fewer claims or payouts occurring?  We should remember that the level of cover needed (if needed at all) is only what the job we're trying to protect (or win) is worth.  Be mindful that premiums shoot up when involved in money-gaming / gambling or working with third party's IP.  Always question the need for such insurance, and suggest more pragmatic protection to your customers' risks and concerns (e.g. acceptance testing, error reporting, fixes & updates).

[Nodragem]

Hi b10b,

thank you very much for the tip! I will have a look to the underwriters you suggested.

I guess one big problem for me to get insured is that I am a new starter and I am not sure yet what I am going to sell and to who. 

I am still exploring different ideas while Insurances prefer people who have a clear definition of what they are doing.

[b10b]

@Nodragem you're welcome.  If you don't yet know who you're going to sell to then there's little external risk, so not much need for professional liability insurance?!  I suggest only getting insurance when your customer base insists or warrants the cost - first try pushing back with alternatives (like bugfixes, refunds, etc).

[Nodragem]

yep, I mean, it is a big struggle to get insured for HTML gamedev.

To convince insurers to cover me, I need to be able to answer questions that I have no idea what the answer is as I did not sell a game yet.

For instance, when I sell an licence of my game to a HTML5 publishers:
- do they own the game and related IPs?
- do they process and sign-off a Quality Assessment?
- do they take responsibility for quality assurance and IP checking prior to game release?
- do their API limit my game so that, for instance, it cannot infringe the data protection laws of the different target countries?

Basically, I need to be able to reassure the insurers that there are mechanisms in place that limit the risks that I get into a law court.

The problem is that I do not know if these mechanisms exist.