SaaS Insurance Checklist for Founders and Finance Teams
A SaaS insurance review should begin with your contracts, product responsibilities, data, employees and financing. Technology E&O and cyber are common starting points; general liability, workers' compensation, D&O and other lines depend on your obligations and exposures. A checklist helps organize the discussion without assuming that every company needs the same package.
By Atlas Risk Partners · Updated
Start with the decision on your desk
- Signing a customer: collect the MSA, insurance exhibit and required start date.
- Raising capital: collect any insurance requirement in the financing documents and note board changes.
- Hiring: list the states where employees actually work and separate employees from contractors.
- Renewing: gather declarations, endorsements, loss information and a list of changes since the last application.
- Launching a product: explain new use cases, data categories, integrations and customer dependencies.
Map business exposures to coverage questions
| Exposure | Coverage to discuss | Question to resolve |
|---|---|---|
| A customer alleges your service caused financial loss | Technology E&O | Are the products and services you actually provide included? |
| Security incidents or privacy liability | Cyber | Which incident costs, third-party claims and interruption events are covered? |
| Investor or board-related allegations | D&O | How do the insured-person and company coverage sections apply? |
| Employees in different states | Workers' compensation and EPLI | What state requirements and employment exposures apply? |
| Office, equipment or contract requirements | General liability, property/BOP or umbrella | Does the proposed coverage match the exposure and the contract wording? |
Prepare one useful information packet
Use current facts rather than trying to make the application look more favorable. Describe what is operating today and clearly label projections or planned security improvements. The broker can then distinguish an existing control from a change the insurer might require.
- Legal entity names, website and a concise product description.
- Current and projected revenue, labeled with the relevant period.
- Employee counts and work locations.
- Customer agreements with insurance requirements.
- Security controls, data categories and material outsourced providers.
- Existing policies and available loss runs, if you have them.
Use a sequence, not a shopping list
Separate legal requirements, contractual deadlines and discretionary risk decisions. A pre-revenue company signing its first enterprise contract has a different immediate problem from a larger SaaS company renewing a mature program. Ask the broker to explain which coverages address your current obligations, which address a material uninsured exposure, and which can be revisited as the business changes.
When Atlas presents options, compare coverage terms as well as premium. Record anything that remains to be supplied before binding and the date coverage needs to begin.
Common questions
Does a pre-revenue SaaS company need insurance?
Possibly. Revenue alone does not determine the answer. Employees, customer contracts, data, investors and the potential consequences of a product failure can create a need before meaningful revenue exists.
Can a business owner's policy cover a SaaS company's main risks?
A BOP may address certain property and general liability needs. Do not assume it includes the technology E&O or cyber terms your business or customers need; inspect its coverage and endorsements.
Sources and editorial approach
Atlas publishes these guides for general education. We use public regulatory and insurer materials for background and link them below. An insurer’s example describes its own product; it is not an Atlas appointment or coverage promise. Your policy and endorsements determine actual coverage.
- U.S. Small Business Administration: Get business insurance
Business insurance categories and a framework for assessing business risks.
- Federal Trade Commission: Cyber Insurance
First-party and third-party cyber coverage and questions to ask about a policy.
For a correction or a question about your business, contact Atlas.
