You may think that advertising injuries are rare, but the truth is that they happen every day. What is advertising injury?
It’s true that most of us don’t think about advertising injury, and we certainly don’t consider it when we’re thinking about our next purchase. But this doesn’t mean you can ignore the issue altogether.
By learning more about what causes an advertising injury, you’ll be better prepared to avoid them in your own life. This article will help you understand how these accidents occur so that you can protect yourself from harm in the future.
What Is Advertising Injury Coverage?
Advertising injury is a form of insurance that protects advertisers from claims resulting from the publication or dissemination of advertisements. The frequency and volume of lawsuits against advertisers has driven up the cost of advertising, to the point where many companies are actually avoiding placing ads in some publications for fear of being sued.
Understanding Advertising Injury Coverage
Advertising injury coverage protects a business from claims that they committed an offense while advertising their goods, products or services.
For example: one team of disgruntled lawyers left the law firm they were employed by to start up on their own as well; this new firm takes out billboards exactly like ones in use at former employer’s office where font and color used for text match those found nowhere else-the kind you could only find if someone was looking very closely indeed!
The former employer sues the disgruntled lawyers for advertising injury and demands that the billboard be taken down within 48 hours. The lawyers’ new firm does not have the financial resources to defend itself against this claim or pay a judgment if found guilty in court.
Fortunately, they had purchased general liability insurance policies that included advertising injury coverage so they can use these coverages while defending themselves with their own money and resources.
Unfortunately because of an intentional violation on behalf of one former employee who used his company’s trademark without permission from mutual agreement when starting up a competing practice within another city near theirs across town (basically outcompeting them), there are no provisions under any standard policy covering litigation costs resulting back as damages.
Advertising injury coverage can be a life saver for those who advertise their products honestly. For instance, if one car manufacturer has been falsely advertising and his competitor sues him because of it; he may rely on adiscoverage in order to defend himself from all lawsuits brought against him by competitors that claim damages were caused by lies told about them through TV ads.
False Advertising and Advertising Injury Coverage
Many companies assume that their advertising injury coverage would logically protect them against false advertising claims.
However, this is almost never the case as most general liability policies exclude it when a business knowingly engages in creating misleading or fraudulent material for commercial purposes (known as “maliciously deceiving” consumers).
If the lawyers in our scenario were unhappy with their new clients, and they sued because those same customers believed that these individuals were related to an old firm which no longer existed — even though there was never any relationship between them— then it would be clear that false advertisement insurance protection was not provided by advertising injury coverage.
This type of business has many potential lawsuits due to misleading advertisements so interaction with your agent can help ensure you find a solution for this kind of claim before anything happens!
How do you know if you have an advertising injury claim?
If you have been injured by a false advertisement, or if competitors are suing you for damages related to their sales being affected by misleading ads, it is essential that any company review its current advertising injury coverage.
This can include consulting with your agent and lawyer about their experiences in the past with similar claims so they can provide further details on what your options may be.
If your business is truly in a difficult position, then you might consider using the advertising injury claim to “divorce” yourself from the wrongdoer’s insurance company by finding a new policy through a brokerage firm who specializes in placing coverage for high risk businesses.
This way you won’t have to deal with the trouble clients who are trying to sue you.
What types of personal injury are covered by insurance?
Your general liability insurance and business owner’s policy will protect you from committing any of the following personal injury offenses:
- False arrest, detention, or imprisonment: You wrongly deprive someone of their personal right to liberty.
- Malicious prosecution: You take legal action against someone without reasonable cause.
- Wrongful eviction or entry: As a property owner, you wrongly expel someone from their leased premises or violate their privacy.
What types of advertising injuries are covered by insurance?
Your general liability insurance or business owner’s policy will provide you with protection from lawsuits for injuries sustained due to personal and advertising injury, including cases of:
- Slander or libel of a person or company: You defame by speech (slander) or in writing or pictures (libel) by making false statements. Professional liability insurance would cover this risk for some professions with unique exposures to slander or libel, including lawyers, media and advertising companies, and publishers.
- Violation of a person’s right to privacy: You make oral or written statements that misappropriate someone’s name or likeness, intrude on someone’s right to solitude or privacy, or disclose private facts, even if true.
- Use of another company’s advertising themes or concepts without permission: You misappropriate a firm’s advertising content for your own purposes.
- Infringement of a person or firm’s copyright or slogans: You use, distribute, or display copyrighted work without the owner’s permission.
How does insurance work in lawsuits stemming from personal or advertising injury?
Your general liability insurance policy can cover these expenses up to the personal and advertising injury limit listed on your policy’s declarations page:
- Legal fees
- Settlement or judgment costs
- Other court-related expenses, such as witness fees.
Make sure you’re looking at the right amount before getting too deep in coverage negotiations with an agent!
What can happen if you don’t report your advertising injury?
If you suffer an advertising injury, failure to report it within the given timeframe may affect your ability to file a claim. What’s more, lack of reporting can increase your risk of policy cancellation due to non-disclosure, which is a violation of the terms outlined in most insurance contracts.
Your general liability insurance or business owner’s policy will pay up to the limits on your policy for these damages:
Bodily injury or property damage sustained by others in your advertising
Your legal defense costs if you are being sued for violating someone’s personal or advertising rights
If you believe any of your employees have committed a violation of this kind, it’s important to work with your team to remedy the situation as soon as possible.
What’s more, if your employees are ever sued for infringing a person or company’s copyright, slogan, patent, or trademark rights, you’re still financially responsible for those costs.
Steps to take after reporting your advertising injury
Don’t deny the accusations. You may need to defend yourself in a trial if that course of action is your best chance for a favorable outcome, but you should avoid going on the offensive unless absolutely necessary.
What’s more, engaging in complicated or aggressive defenses can lead to unnecessary legal fees and reduce the chances of a successful settlement.
Accepting responsibility for your actions is one way to show that you’re willing to cooperate with an injury victim and take steps to resolve the issue.
What’s more, making amends may also increase the likelihood that you’ll avoid a trial, saving both you and the victim time and money.
The dangers of not reporting an advertising injury
In addition to shortening the time you have resolve your claim, failing to report an injury can incur penalties and fines. What’s more, a lack of reporting is considered insurance fraud which will result in jail time along with adverse effects on your reputation as well as career possibilities
Examples of Advertising Injury Cases
You own a mixed commercial and residential building. You’re late on the rent one month, so you change the locks to evict them from their storefront lease? This can be risky when personal injury coverage is included in your general liability policy!
If they lose access to business while locked out or wrongfully evicted by changing key provisions of an agreement without prior notice like this, then it’s possible that bakery owner could sue because she was unable do any work during those days–leaving plaintiffs susceptible for losses due both physical damages such as property theft; however there are other major problems too: lack hunger since customers might not come into stores knowing goods were no longer available (which means less revenue).
What is personal and advertising injury limit?
Coverage B is subject to a Personal and Advertising Injury limit, which is the most the insurer will pay for all damages assessed against any one person or company. Damages or settlements paid under Coverage B are also subject to the General Aggregate limit in the policy.
Why would personal and advertising injury be excluded?
You could be covered for intentional or malicious acts that cause injury to another person.
This includes felonies such as assault, battery and criminal mischief if you have knowledge of the risks involved in your actions and do something anyways without regard to consequences with intent on harming someone else’s personal property/goods or reputation because doing so would inflict advertising injury upon them- even if it wasn’t directed towards yourself!
Conclusion
In the beginning, advertising was seen as a form of entertainment. But over time it evolved into something much more serious and potentially dangerous.
Advertising injury is an umbrella term for any physical or psychological harm that can occur from viewing ads in general, including online marketing campaigns.
