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Telecoms and mobile
Yes, if you advise businesses which network, tariff or bundle to take and then manage the switch, you need professional indemnity insurance. Airtime resale goes wrong in ways that cost customers money rather than damaging property: a data pool sized too small, termination charges nobody warned about, a port that leaves the sales line dead. Public liability does not answer those allegations. PI does, subject to the policy terms. Dealers who only introduce customers to a network carry less risk, but rarely none.
Part of: Professional indemnity for IT professionals
In short
Airtime resellers are judged on the advice and the switch: did the tariff fit real usage, were the old contract’s charges checked, and did the numbers move cleanly? Ofcom’s General Conditions apply according to the service and the type of customer, and each provider must check the scope of every condition. For businesses with ten or fewer employees that means a contract summary, alerts when an allowance runs out or roaming starts, and accurate, not misleading, mobile sales information. PI usually covers negligent advice and service errors. Incentives promised to win a deal, such as paying off the old contract, are commercial commitments it usually won’t pay.
Last reviewed 5 October 2026 by the Apex professional indemnity team.
Selling business mobile looks like a transaction, but customers are buying your judgement. You read their bills, estimate data, roaming and calling needs, choose a network that works where their people work, and recommend a tariff, a shared data pool or a package of handsets and airtime. Then you run the migration: checking the old contract, collecting switching codes and porting numbers.
When that goes wrong, the loss is financial: out-of-bundle charges, termination charges, staff who cannot be reached. Public liability (PL) insurance covers accidental injury and damage to other people’s property, such as a fitter scratching a van dashboard while installing a car kit. It has nothing to say about a tariff that was wrong for the customer.
Professional indemnity (PI) insurance, often written for telecoms and IT firms as technology errors and omissions cover, pays defence costs and compensation when a customer alleges your advice or service fell below the standard of a competent mobile adviser, subject to the policy terms. Cyber insurance is separate again: it deals with attacks on your own systems, such as your billing platform, customer portal and your account access with each network.
The examples below are illustrative. They show the kind of allegation an airtime reseller can face, not real claims or outcomes.
None involves the accidental injury or damage PL is built for. The last shows why your PI, cyber and crime wordings need reading together.
Ofcom has no separate rulebook for resellers. It says all providers of electronic communications networks and services must meet the General Conditions, that the rules turn on the type of service and customer, and that each provider must check the scope section of every condition to establish which apply. If the contract and bill carry your name, plan on the conditions below applying to you. If you sell as a dealer, Condition C8 requires the provider to set minimum sales and marketing standards for its retailers, which reach you through your dealer agreement.
| Rule | What it says | Why it matters to your PI |
|---|---|---|
| C1 contract requirements (businesses with ten or fewer employees) | Key contract information in writing and a contract summary before the customer is bound; no commitment period longer than 24 months; an existing contract is not extended when the customer buys extra services or devices unless it consents. | Adding connections mid-contract is where terms are most often disputed. |
| C3.13 to C3.17 billing and roaming (ten or fewer employees) | Customers must be told when a service in their tariff plan is used up, with the out-of-plan charges, and alerted free of charge when a device starts roaming. Providers must explain how to avoid inadvertent roaming in border regions. | If you bill in your own name, confirm whether your network or aggregator sends these alerts for you. |
| C7 switching and number porting | The switch happens on the requested date where technically possible, or no later than one working day after validation and activation; any loss of service must not exceed one working day. For mobile switches of fewer than 25 numbers, codes must be issued within set times, switching information must show the total charge payable, and notice period charges cannot be imposed. Providers must compensate customers where C7 is breached. | Migrations are your highest-volume risk; automatic compensation is not the same as a negligence claim. |
| C8 sales and marketing of mobile services (ten or fewer employees) | Information given when selling or marketing mobile services must be accurate and not misleading. | It governs the sales conversation itself: coverage claims, allowances and total cost. |
| Price rises | Since 17 January 2025, new consumer contracts cannot include price rises linked to inflation or set as percentages. For small businesses and not-for-profits Ofcom allows more flexibility, but the main monthly price must be set out in pounds and pence before sign-up. | Cost comparisons that ignore price-rise terms invite complaints. |
| Misrepresentation Act 1967, s.2(1) (England and Wales) | If a customer contracts after a misrepresentation by the other party and loses money as a result, that party is liable unless it proves it had reasonable grounds to believe, and did believe, the facts were true. | If you contract in your own name, careless statements about coverage or cost are tested against this. |
The same sale carries different risk depending on whose paper the customer signs, and your insurer will ask which model you use.
Three things usually sit outside PI. Commission clawbacks are a trading loss, not a claim. Incentives promised to win the deal, such as paying off the customer’s remaining contract, a hardware fund or cashback, are commercial commitments: failing to honour them is a contractual debt, not negligence. And an indemnity you give a network is commonly excluded where it goes beyond the liability you would have had anyway.
Most airtime claims start in the gap between the old contract and the new one.
| Usually covered by PI | Often excluded or limited | Needs a different policy |
|---|---|---|
| Negligent tariff, bundle and data pool recommendations | Promised incentives such as contract buy-outs, cashback and hardware funds | An attack on your billing platform or customer portal (cyber) |
| Careless advice on contract end dates and termination charges | Commission clawbacks and disputes over your own charges | Handsets or chargers you supplied that cause a fire (product liability) |
| Porting and migration errors made by your team | Compensation you have agreed to pay automatically | Damage to a vehicle while fitting a car kit (public liability) |
| Network and coverage suitability advice | Fines and penalties, which PI wordings commonly exclude | Theft of handset stock (property or stock cover) |
| Device set-up and mobile device management errors, where declared | Indemnities given to a network beyond your legal liability | Money stolen from your own accounts by fraudsters (crime cover) |
| Defence costs, including telecoms billing experts | Circumstances you knew about before the policy began | Injury to your own staff (employers’ liability) |
Cover is subject to the policy wording. Check the business description names advice, fleet management and device services, not just “reselling airtime”.
The limit is usually set by customers, not a regulator. Larger businesses and public sector buyers often write a PI requirement into their terms, and partner agreements may ask for evidence of cover. Size it to your largest fleet and what a failed migration would cost that customer, not to your commission.
If a customer asks for a higher limit than you hold, see what to do when a contract requires a higher PI limit.
A complete proposal gets better terms than a bare one, and a broker can only present what you tell us. Have these ready:
Speak to a broker
PI for telecoms airtime resellers, placed by a named broker
Start the online proposal and save it as you go, or leave your number and a named broker will call you back, usually the same working day.
Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent insurance broker based in Bristol, established in 2009 and authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are not tied to one insurer: we work with over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s syndicates through wholesale brokers, and every client has a named broker who handles the placement, mid-term changes, certificates for clients and the renewal.
Yes, if you advise on tariffs, bundles or networks, or manage switches and ports for customers. Those mistakes cause financial loss, such as out-of-bundle bills, termination charges or missed calls, which public liability does not cover. PI pays defence costs and compensation when a customer alleges negligence, subject to the policy terms.
No. No UK law requires airtime resellers to hold PI, and Ofcom’s General Conditions deal with contracts, billing, switching and sales information rather than insurance. In practice larger business customers and public sector buyers often set a minimum limit in their contracts, and network or aggregator agreements may ask for it too.
It can, where the charges flow from negligent advice, such as telling a customer its contract had ended when it had not. It does not pay a promise to cover those charges as an incentive to switch, which is a commercial commitment. Check the losing provider’s figures before you advise on timing.
Only where the customer can show your advice was negligent, for example a bundle sized without looking at roaming or seasonal use. For businesses with ten or fewer employees, providers must alert customers when an allowance is used up and when a device starts roaming, so records of those alerts matter in any dispute.
Ofcom says each provider must work out which conditions apply to its services. If you contract and bill in your own name, plan on the customer-facing conditions applying to you. As a dealer, Condition C8 means the network must set minimum sales standards for you, and customers can still sue you over careless advice.
It depends on the wordings. A customer’s claim that your identity checks were negligent may fall under PI, subject to any fraud or cyber exclusions. Money stolen from your own business needs crime cover, and a breach of your systems needs cyber insurance. Ask your broker to review all three policies together.
Apex arranges professional indemnity insurance for telecoms airtime resellers across the UK. Tell us about your work and we’ll find cover that fits. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Start your PI proposal Call 0117 325 0027Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information, not advice on your individual circumstances. Cover is always subject to the insurer’s acceptance and the policy terms, and this page does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
