Technology E&O
Why this comes up after a product change
A SaaS company may start with a subscription product, then add onboarding, migration, configuration, API work, or operational advice. Those additions can change the allegation a customer might make if a project fails.
For example, an implementation team that configures a workflow, imports data, and trains an administrator is doing more than making software available. Describe that delivery model accurately, including work performed by employees, affiliates, and subcontractors.
A quarterly product-and-services inventory gives finance, sales, legal, and operations one document to use when the application asks what the company does. It also catches services that began as a one-off accommodation and became standard practice.
- List software features, integrations, implementation tasks, support obligations, and advisory work.
- Separate what is automated in the product from work performed by people.
Compare the definitions before the headline
Look at the defined professional services, technology products, wrongful acts, and contractual-liability wording. A broad title does not answer whether a particular statement of work fits the definitions. Ask whether exclusions carve back work that your sales agreement presents as part of delivery.
Pay particular attention to the relationship between a service description and an exclusion for contractual liability, performance guarantees, or work performed by others. The review should identify the clause; it should not assume an exclusion applies without reading the issued form and endorsements.
Ask whether the proposed definition is limited to named products or includes future releases, implementation, consulting, managed services, and integrations. If the answer is unclear, preserve the question in the renewal file.
Bring the contract into the review
Customer commitments often supply the detail an application misses: milestones, service levels, data conversion duties, and indemnities. Mark the promises that go beyond a simple subscription and compare them with exclusions, limitations, and defense provisions.
A disciplined review separates ordinary product promises from commitments that increase exposure: project deadlines, data-restoration obligations, uptime language, professional judgments, and responsibility for a third party. Flag the exact clause and the customer or project to which it applies.
If the company uses a partner, note who contracts with the customer, who performs the work, and who signs off on completion. Those facts matter when comparing professional-services definitions, insured status, and contractual indemnities.
Keep a record for the next renewal
Save the service inventory, current contract forms, and any explanation used in the submission. Revisit it when you launch a module, change a delivery partner, or move work from customer self-service to implementation. Policy wording, declarations, and endorsements control.
Before a new service launches, circulate a short update describing the customer, scope, revenue model, data access, and contract changes. That gives the broker and underwriter a usable basis for deciding whether a midterm conversation is warranted.
This guide is general education, not a coverage opinion. Only the issued policy, declarations, endorsements, facts, and applicable law determine how a specific matter is handled.
Write a service inventory the insurer can actually use
List every way the company earns revenue and every material obligation it performs: subscription access, onboarding, implementation, configuration, migration, custom integration, managed operations, analytics, consulting, training, and support. For each, record who contracts, who performs the work, whether subcontractors participate, what the customer receives, and which legal entity is responsible. A product catalog alone may omit work that appears in statements of work or customer-success promises.
Add a column for what happens if the work is wrong or unavailable. A delayed dashboard, a corrupted data migration, and a failed human advisory recommendation may generate different allegations. The purpose is to compare the submitted description with the policy’s defined technology products and professional services, not to decide a hypothetical claim in advance.
Compare sales language with policy language
Read the master agreement, order form, statement of work, service-level attachment, and marketing claims together. Highlight guarantees, deadlines, warranties, assumed third-party obligations, and indemnities. Then find the corresponding definitions, contractual-liability wording, exclusions, and any endorsements in the proposed E&O form. A service can be accurately described in an application yet still face a specific exclusion or condition, so the comparison needs both documents.
Ask whether the form treats software products differently from professional services, whether a new module is automatically within the described business, and whether affiliated entities or outsourced delivery are addressed. Capture the exact form number and clause in a review log. If a broker or insurer gives an interpretation, retain the written response with the source wording.
A release-management example
A company that previously sold a self-service reporting tool may start offering paid implementation and data cleansing. The new work could be material even if the core code is unchanged. Before launch, product and delivery teams should describe the steps, customer acceptance criteria, access to customer data, subcontractor roles, and contract promises. Legal can identify new indemnities; finance can explain expected revenue; the insurance owner can ask whether the policy and application need review.
Repeat this exercise after an acquisition, a new reseller arrangement, or a major enterprise deal. Keep the dated inventory and the submission response together. If no endorsement is issued, do not imply that a conversation alone amended the policy. The issued declarations, wording, endorsements, facts, and applicable law control.
Questions to send with the inventory
Ask what exactly counts as insured services, whether implementation and migration are included, how work by contractors is treated, whether contractual assumptions are restricted, which insured entity is performing the work, and what claim-reporting rule applies. Also ask whether the insurer relied on a particular revenue allocation or customer segment when quoting. A direct answer to these questions is more useful than requesting a general assurance that “all SaaS work” is covered.
The most useful outcome is an auditable decision: which service description was submitted, what form was offered, which gaps were resolved, and which remained business risks. Update that record when the company’s delivery model changes.