Learn about your business’s personal and advertising injury insurance.
Most business owners are surprised to learn that they have personal and advertising injury liability insurance. This coverage, referred to as “Coverage B,” is automatically included in your general liability insurance policy. Surprised? Then here’s what you need to know about your Coverage B.
What Does Personal Advertising Injury Liability Insurance Cover?
Coverage B covers claims that accuse your business of personal and advertising injury. Specifically, this insurance will offer protection against the following claims:
- False arrest, detention, or imprisonment
- Malicious prosecution
- Wrongful eviction, entry, or invasion of a private dwelling
- Libel or slander
- Violation of privacy
- Use of another advertising idea in your own advertising campaign
- Infringing on another entity’s copyright, trade dress, or slogan in an advertisement
What is an Intentional Tort?
Coverage B covers offenses that are considered intentional torts. Intentional torts are deliberate acts that result in some type of unintentional injury. This injury can be physical, psychological, or financial. It’s important to understand that while the action might have been deliberate, the injuries inflicted were not. If you committed an act with the intention of causing harm, then this would not be covered by Coverage B.
To illustrate this point, imagine that you run a store and you saw a customer stuff something into their pocket. Suspecting theft, you detain the customer until the police arrive. During their investigation, the police find that the customer had not stolen anything and was simply putting their phone in their pocket. In this scenario, the customer could sue your business for false imprisonment and demand that you compensate them. Because you really did think that the customer was shoplifting when you detained them, this claim would be covered under your Coverage B.
However, if you detained a customer knowing that they had not stolen anything, then this would count as you intending to cause harm. If the customer sued, then this claim would not be covered by your insurance.
What Are Coverage B Exclusions?
Coverage B is actually very limited in scope. This means that it is subject to a considerable number of coverage exclusions. For instance, Coverage B is not designed to protect the advertising and publishing activities that you perform on another company’s behalf. If your company performs advertising, publishing, telecasting, or broadcasting work, then you will need to secure special media liability insurance.
Other coverage exclusions include the following:
- Knowing violation of rights- If you commit an offense knowing that it would violate rights or cause injury, then this act would not be covered under Coverage B.
- Publication with knowledge of falsity- If you knowingly published false statements, then you will not have coverage for claims related to this offense.
- Contractual liability- Coverage B excludes liability for personal and advertising injury you assume on behalf of another entity under a contract.
- Breach of contract- Claims stemming from your failure to meet contractual obligations are not covered under Coverage B.
- Statements about price or quality- Coverage B excludes coverage for false statements made on advertisements discussing a product or service’s price or quality.
- Intellectual property- Coverage B will not offer protection if you infringe on another entity’s copyright, patent, trademark, or trade secret. (However, infringing on another’s intellectual property in an advertisement is covered).
- Chatrooms, bulletin boards, unauthorized use- Claims resulting from your Internet chatrooms or bulletin boards, or claims resulting from unauthorized use of someone’s email address or domain name are excluded from Coverage B protection.
This is what you need to know about personal and advertising injury liability insurance or Coverage B. Do you have additional questions about your business’s coverage? If so, then contact the experts at Gant Insurance Agency. We are ready to assist you with all your coverage needs today.
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