The CFO's Corporate Insurance Checklist

An Actionable Guide for Tech Company Risk Mitigation

In Place: Policy is active and aligned.
Needs Review: Update or renewal needed.
Action Required: Critical gap or missing policy.

Directors & Officers (D&O) Liability

GROWTH-STAGE

Coverage Scope:

  • Legal defense for allegations of wrongful acts by management.
  • Claims from investors for misrepresentation or misleading statements.
  • Lawsuits from regulators for management or compliance failures.

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • Fraudulent, criminal, or intentionally non-compliant acts.
  • Claims covered by other policies (e.g., CGL, E&O).
  • Legally uninsurable fines and penalties.
Trigger Scenario: An investor group sues the board, alleging misleading projections during a funding round.

Errors & Omissions (E&O)

GROWTH-STAGE

Coverage Scope:

  • Client's financial loss due to software bugs or performance failures.
  • Failure to deliver a promised service or meet contractual obligations (SLAs).
  • Allegations of negligence in providing professional services.

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • Intellectual property theft (requires specific IP coverage).
  • Intentional wrongdoing or false promises.
  • Bodily injury or property damage claims (covered by CGL).
Trigger Scenario: Your SaaS platform outage causes significant financial losses for clients, who then sue for damages.

Cyber Insurance

GROWTH-STAGE

Coverage Scope:

  • Data breach notification costs, credit monitoring, and PR expenses.
  • Business interruption loss from a system shutdown after an attack.
  • Regulatory fines and penalties (e.g., under India's DPDP Act).
  • Data recovery, forensics, and ransomware payment costs.

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • Loss of funds from social engineering (covered by Cybercrime).
  • Costs to upgrade technology infrastructure post-breach.
  • Reputational harm that doesn't result in a direct financial loss.
Trigger Scenario: Your customer database is hacked, leading to regulatory fines and third-party lawsuits for data exposure.

Commercial General Liability (CGL)

FOUNDATIONAL

Coverage Scope:

  • Bodily injury to third parties (clients, vendors) on your premises.
  • Damage to third-party property caused by your employees or business operations.
  • Advertising injury (e.g., copyright infringement in marketing).

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • Professional mistakes/coding errors (covered by E&O).
  • Employee injuries (covered by Employee's Compensation).
  • Cyber breaches and data loss events.
Trigger Scenario: A visitor trips over a cable in your office, is seriously injured, and sues for medical expenses.

Employee's Compensation (EC)

FOUNDATIONAL

Coverage Scope:

  • Statutory medical expenses and lost wages for work-related injuries.
  • Covers liability from common law lawsuits filed by employees for negligence.
  • Occupational diseases (e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome for developers).

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • Injuries sustained outside the course of employment.
  • Self-inflicted injuries or injuries sustained under the influence.
Trigger Scenario: An employee sues for negligence in providing an ergonomic setup after developing a repetitive strain injury.

Office Package Insurance

FOUNDATIONAL

Coverage Scope:

  • Damage to office building and contents (laptops, furniture, servers).
  • Burglary, theft, or robbery of office equipment and assets.
  • Electronic equipment breakdown for critical hardware.

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • General wear and tear or gradual deterioration.
  • Software or data loss (covered by Cyber Insurance).
  • Acts of terrorism (often requires a specific policy extension).
Trigger Scenario: A fire in the server room destroys critical hardware, forcing a temporary office rental and equipment replacement.

Keyman Insurance

GROWTH-STAGE

Coverage Scope:

  • Provides a lump-sum payout to the *company* upon the death or critical disability of a key person.
  • Funds can be used to manage business disruption and hire a replacement.

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • The policy pays the company, not the individual's family.
  • Suicide in the initial policy period (typically 1-2 years).
  • Non-disclosure of pre-existing medical conditions during application.
Trigger Scenario: Your visionary founder passes away unexpectedly, jeopardizing a crucial funding round and investor confidence.

Cybercrime Insurance

SCALE-UP

Coverage Scope:

  • Direct financial loss from social engineering, phishing, or impersonation fraud.
  • Fraudulent fund transfers initiated by an external party tricking an employee.
  • Computer fraud (hacking into systems to transfer funds) and telephone fraud.

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • Data breach response costs (covered by Cyber Insurance).
  • Theft committed by your own employees (covered by Crime Insurance).
Trigger Scenario: An accountant is tricked by a spoofed "CEO email" into wiring substantial funds to a fraudulent account.

Crime Insurance

SCALE-UP

Coverage Scope:

  • Employee dishonesty and internal fraud, including embezzlement.
  • Forgery or alteration of checks and other financial instruments.
  • Theft of money or property from company premises by third parties.

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • Indirect losses resulting from the crime.
  • Cybercrime events like phishing (covered by Cybercrime policy).
  • Inventory shortages discovered during a stocktake with no clear evidence of theft.
Trigger Scenario: A finance employee creates fictitious vendors over six months to embezzle company funds.

Trade Credit Insurance

SCALE-UP

Coverage Scope:

  • Non-payment of receivables from a customer due to their insolvency or bankruptcy.
  • Protracted default (a customer fails to pay after an extended period).
  • Political risks in export markets that prevent payment.

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • Disputed debts (e.g., client refuses to pay due to poor service).
  • Sales made to customers who are already known bad debtors.
  • Losses that fall below the agreed-upon policy deductible.
Trigger Scenario: Your largest enterprise client (representing 30% of revenue) declares bankruptcy, leaving a massive unpaid invoice.

Marine Insurance (Cargo)

SCALE-UP

Coverage Scope:

  • Loss or damage to goods (e.g., imported servers, hardware) while in transit.
  • Covers risks like theft, accidents, fire, sinking, and other transit perils.
  • General average charges (costs incurred to save the vessel/cargo).

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • Inherent defects of the goods or insufficient packaging.
  • Financial losses resulting from transit delays.
  • Willful misconduct or fraudulent acts by the insured party.
Trigger Scenario: A container holding your new high-value servers for a data center buildout is lost at sea during a storm.

Fleet Insurance

SCALE-UP

Coverage Scope:

  • Covers multiple company-owned vehicles under a single, manageable policy.
  • Simplifies administration with one renewal date and point of contact.
  • Can offer premium savings compared to insuring vehicles individually.

Key Exclusions to Note:

  • Vehicles used for personal use unless specifically endorsed.
  • Standard exclusions like general wear and tear or mechanical breakdown.
  • Vehicles not registered in the company's name.
Trigger Scenario: Your sales team uses 10 company cars, and managing separate insurance policies has become an administrative burden.