Advertising Agency Insurance

Advertising agencies, just like any other business, need to be properly covered by advertising agency insurance. The range of insurance products that an ad agency would need to protect their business include property, commercial auto, workman's compensation, and professional liability insurance. Traditionally, the coverage that an advertising agency insurance had was called a Named Peril policy. There is now what is called and E&O policy, which is professional liability coverage. What do all of those terms mean? What do you need today to ensure your business is protected? How do you find a good provider for your advertising agency insurance package?

Types of Policies

Being insured is necessary to protect your company from the hazards of litigation. In the old day these policies were called Named Peril policies. They were as simple as they sounded. They were written to cover the "named perils" of operating an advertising agency. Today, this type of policy is mostly utilized in homeowners policies. General business liability coverage, surety bonds, business owner's policies, E&O policies, and commercial auto coverage, are the most commonly recommended insurance products for advertising agencies. General liability coverage would cover your company in case you are included in any kind of suit resulting in injury or harm from a product in which you were involved in the marketing. Hopefully, the legal system will find you are not responsible, but getting to that point can cost you a lot of money.

E&O insurance, or Errors and Omission, is a policy that protects your company if you make an honest mistake or omit an important piece of information from your client's campaign resulting in loss or damages. E&O would cover your company against legal actions arising from content errors or omissions including: Copyright or trademark infringement, defamation of character, and invasion of privacy. This would pay your client or other party for any damages sustained due to your work product. It would ensure that your agency is not on the line for hefty attorney's fees and other legal costs due to an honest mistake on the part of an employee or owner.

Commercial auto, and workman's compensation are also necessary to complete the average advertising agency insurance portfolio. If you have employees who drive on the job, you must ensure they are covered. If an employee is injured while in the office, your advertising agency insurance coverage should cover that through a strong workman's compensation policy as part of a comprehensive coverage package. Workman's compensation insurance ensures that any employee that is injured is eligible for capped, controlled damages. Any advertising agency insurance package that does not include these basic protections is asking for trouble. It is the right thing to do for your employees and the right thing to do for your advertising agency.

A business owner's policy can be included in your advertising agency insurance portfolio. This will protect your business assets in case crucial documentation or information is lost or destroyed. If you are in the middle of a big project and approaching a deadline only to lose all the electronic information and thus not be able to meet the contracted deadline, this policy would help you recover.

Why You Need Protection

As a creative agent of the media, ad agencies have the unique ability to affect the marketplace on their client's behalf. What happens if that goes wrong? What if you leave out a critical word on ads that bring negative effects on to your client? Who pays the FCC fines or for the other damages associated with the mistake? You might be ordered to. That is why you need E&O coverage for your type of business. You are protected against honest errors and omissions that could land your business in court.

When you work in a business in which the final product can be judged by an individual as inadequate regardless of how fair or honest that critique is, you have to be prepared. Advertising agency employees are given a job to do and with guidance from a client they produce the product they believe reflects the clients wants. No matter how strong and specific your contract is with any client that does not prevent them from causing you a lot of money by filing suit. Your advertising agency insurance will ensure that they cannot damage you in the process.

Finding the right provider to provide insurance for your advertising agency is easy. You can get quotes from multiple providers. Contact a knowledgable agent or company and ask them to put together a quote that includes all the types of coverage your ad business. They want your advertising agency insurance business. Let the industry know that your business is up for grabs. Use your power as a desirable consumer to get the best deal you can.