Insurance for Publishers

You’ll need a tailored package that includes:

• Professional indemnity insurance – We suggest you have professional indemnity. This covers you for allegations of mistakes and provides compensation where you are liable due to professional negligence. It usually covers associated defence or legal costs too which is vital when you are working with companies bigger, and more able to litigate, than yours. It will cover you for claims from clients and third parties.
• Cyber insurance – Cyber criminals are acutely aware that advertising agencies have access to sensitive commercial data which they can exploit. You’ll need cover if they gain access to your systems.
• Public and product liability – This covers physical injury and damage and can be added to packages at a low cost.
• Employers’ liability – This will protect you from legal costs should an employee sustain a bodily injury in the course of their employment. If you have any employees it is compulsory in the UK to have employers’ liability and it can be added to packages at a low cost.
• Computers, laptops and office equipment – We advise insuring your IT equipment from theft and destruction and can offer cover for portable IT on a worldwide basis.
• Directors’ and officers’ insurance – This covers claims against directors or senior managers made in a personal capacity and is especially relevant if you have external investors who could hold company directors liable for failures or missed targets.

The publication of any content, regardless of the topic, has an element of risk.

In some cases the genre of the content may be very low risk or un-contentious, but that doesn’t mean a person or company won’t raise a grievance. A grievance can be anything from allegations that content is not original to a breach of confidentiality or privacy.

The risks associated with more contentious content, usually associated with investigative journalism, biographies or topics of a religious, political of commercially-sensitive nature, carry an increased defamation risk. Defamation claims, even those entirely unfounded can result in expensive legal costs. Our publishers’ insurance provides a legal defence for your business and helps with the costs of putting things right, if you are liable.

The right insurance protects your business, its reputation and balance sheet.

• If you have American or Canadian clients or contracts, they will probably be excluded and some insurers will restrict cover to UK claims only. However, policies can be extended to include USA and Canada protection for an additional premium.
• If you are involved with advertising production, some policies will exclude work away for the office unless you buy an extension.
• Most media policies will exclude any claims related to patents. We can explore additional coverage if you need it.
• Some insurers will apply a retro-active date, which means complaints or claims related to work prior to that date are excluded.
• Deliberate acts, dishonest or fraudulent acts are usually excluded unless committed by an employee without the knowledge of senior management.
• Disputes which are purely commercial in nature and not linked to your supply or service provision, such as a commercial dispute with a supplier, may be excluded. Disputes with clients are usually covered, especially if they allege your business has been negligent or breached a contract.

There’s no simple answer because a judgement will be dependent on a number of factors, including:

• The gross revenue of the business.
• The nature of the content published.
• Previous litigation.

We can cover publishers of any size and seek quotes for publishers working on high-risk content like investigative journalism.

We can also source quotes for individuals that self-publish, although they might just need an authors’ insurance product which includes:

• The circulation of the content, both in terms of geography and volume of monthly readers.
• The presence of available indemnities with authors.