PR & Communications Consultant Insurance
Public relations carries a distinct exposure: publication. Words issued on a client's behalf reach the public, and if they damage somebody's reputation the person damaged has a claim, quite separately from anything the client thinks about the work.
Defamation cover can be particularly important for PR and communications work, depending on the nature of the services provided and the policy wording, and it is not a standard feature of every professional indemnity policy. A statement in a release, a comment given to a journalist, a line in a briefing document, or something said in a social media response can all potentially give rise to a claim, and defence costs mount quickly even where the statement is defensible.
Confidentiality is the other distinctive exposure. Consultants hold market sensitive information, embargoed announcements and crisis material before anybody else. An early release, a mis addressed email or a breached embargo can move a share price, sink an announcement or expose a client to regulatory attention.
We can advise PR and communications practices on professional indemnity extended for defamation and breach of confidence, and on the additional exposures that crisis work and investor communications bring.
Common claims and risk exposures
The exposures that produce claims in this trade, rather than a generic list.
Defamation
A statement issued on a client's behalf that damages a third party's reputation. The claimant is not the client, the costs escalate early, and the pressure to settle is commercial rather than legal.
Breach of confidence and embargoes
Material released early, sent to the wrong recipient or briefed outside an embargo. For a listed client that can be a regulatory disclosure problem, and for any client it can destroy the value of an announcement.
Crisis communications advice
Advising an organisation during an incident, where the wrong statement can increase legal exposure, prejudice an investigation or worsen the damage. The consequences are judged afterwards with full information the consultant did not have.
Inaccurate statements about a client
A figure, a claim or a credential in a release that turns out to be wrong. The client is left correcting the record publicly, and where the consultancy wrote it without verification the claim follows.
Investor and regulated communications
Work involving listed companies or regulated firms brings disclosure rules and financial promotion restrictions. A communication that breaches them is a serious matter for the client and traces back to who drafted it.
The cover we arrange
We arrange professional indemnity and related insurance around the services you provide, the clients you work with and the contractual requirements you face. The appropriate cover and limits will depend on your individual activities and the terms available from insurers.
Professional indemnity
Claims arising from negligent advice, drafting and communications work. The starting point, though in this profession it needs specific extensions to be much use.
- Negligent advice and drafting
- Campaign and communications work
- Claims made basis
- Defence costs included
Defamation and publication liability
The essential extension. Libel and slander arising from material issued on a client's behalf, including statements to journalists and on social media.
- Libel and slander
- Statements to media
- Social media content
- Confirm it is included, not assumed
Breach of confidence
Claims arising from information released early or disclosed without authority, including embargo failures and mis directed material.
- Embargo breaches
- Mis addressed communications
- Market sensitive information
- Client and third party claims
Cyber and data
Journalist and contact databases, client material held before release, and the consultancy's own email. An email account compromise in this profession exposes unpublished client information.
- Unpublished client material
- Contact databases
- Email compromise
- Breach notification
Public liability and events
Press events, launches and photocalls bring the public onto premises the consultancy has arranged, along with the usual injury and damage exposures.
- Press events and launches
- Damage to venues
- Employers' liability, legally required
- Equipment at events
What an underwriter will ask
Having these to hand shortens the process considerably, and usually improves the terms.
- Income split between media relations, corporate communications, crisis work and events
- Whether listed companies or FCA regulated firms are advised
- Whether crisis and issues management is undertaken
- Whether statements are issued directly, or always through the client
- Whether material is approved by the client in writing before release
- Whether any work involves political, campaigning or contentious subjects
- Whether social media accounts are operated on clients' behalf
- Claims, complaints and notified circumstances over the last six years
What affects the cost of your insurance?
The main factors insurers consider when assessing the premium.
Whether defamation cover is included
This is the feature that distinguishes a policy written for PR from a generic consultancy policy, and it is the first thing to compare between quotations.
Client sector and profile
Listed companies, regulated firms and politically contentious clients raise the exposure considerably compared with consumer brand work.
Crisis work
Advising during incidents is rated above planned communications, because decisions are taken quickly and reviewed later with the benefit of hindsight.
Approval process
Written client sign off before release, consistently applied, is the control that most improves both terms and defensibility in this class.
Conditions and exclusions to consider
Terms vary between insurers, so treat these as the questions to ask rather than a description of any one policy.
Deliberate falsehood or malice
Defamation cover answers unintentional harm. A statement made knowing it was untrue, or made maliciously, falls outside any policy.
Defamation where not specifically included
The most important thing to check. A general professional indemnity policy may not extend to libel and slander at all, which leaves the profession's central exposure uninsured.
The client's own decisions
Where a client approved or insisted on a statement against advice, that record is the defence. It only works where the advice was given in writing at the time.
Regulatory fines
Fines on the consultancy are generally uninsurable, though investigation costs usually are, and a client's regulatory loss may be claimed against you as damages.
Common questions
Does our professional indemnity cover defamation?
Not automatically, and that is one of the most important things to check in this profession. Libel and slander need to be specifically included, because they are a characteristic exposure and a generic consultancy wording may not reach them at all.
A journalist misquoted our release and the client is blaming us.
The defence is the release itself and the approval record. Where the issued text was accurate and signed off, the misquotation is the publication's. That is why written approval before release matters more in this work than in most.
We broke an embargo by accident. What happens?
It can be a breach of confidence claim, and for a listed client a disclosure problem with its own regulatory consequences. Tell the client immediately and notify your insurer, because the value lost in a spoiled announcement is real and quantifiable.
We run clients' social media accounts. Is that covered?
It should be, but it needs declaring, because posting directly on a client's behalf puts you in the position of publisher in real time with no approval step. Make sure the defamation extension is worded to include social media content rather than only formal releases.
How do I get a quote from True Risk Solutions?
Call 01304 262880 and speak to a broker, or email info@truerisksolutions.co.uk with what you do, what you need cover for and a phone number with the best time to call, and a broker will call you back. We need a phone number to quote, because the cover and the price depend on questions that are quicker to answer on a call than by email.
Speak to a specialist who understands your industry
Tell us about your business and the work you undertake, and we will come back to you with cover options built around it. Call 01304 262880, or email us with a phone number and the best time to call and a broker will ring you back.