How to Get Blogger Insurance (and Why You Need It)
Every savvy business owner knows the importance of minimizing risk by insuring their business. So if you’re running your blog like a business, why wouldn’t you make sure you have blogger insurance?
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What Is Blogger Insurance?
“Blogger insurance” is better known as professional liability, media liability, or errors & omissions insurance. This type of insurance protects you if you get sued for something you wrote on your blog or advice you gave through your blog’s outlets.
Why Would I Need Blogger Insurance?
Because, sadly, we live in a very litigious society where one wrong step could get you sued as a blogger. Even if you have no intention to do something wrong, someone could sue you, and the cost of hiring a lawyer could be enough to put you out of business.
Blogging can be risky because there’s little oversight. Whereas journalists have editors and producers who oversee their work, many bloggers are independent and don’t have any support or a legal team to make sure they don’t inadvertently do something wrong.
Here are some real-life examples of lawsuits against bloggers:
#1 Mommy blogger asked to pay $7,500 for using a photo without permission
#2 Blogger involved in legal dispute after using an image from Google search
#3 Marketing blogger named in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for sharing an article on his blog
In each of those cases, having blogger insurance might have saved them a lot of money and/or stress.
What Does Blogger Insurance Cover?
It depends on which insurance company you go with and which policy you choose, but here is what is typically covered:
- Defamation
- Libel
- Copyright infringement
- Invasion of privacy
Blogger insurance will typically cover the costs of defending your case (such as hiring a lawyer) and will pay any damages due if a judgment is ruled against you or any settlement due should you and the other party decide to settle out of court.
But Doesn’t My Current Business Insurance or Homeowners Insurance Cover My Blogging Activities?
Probably not. Be sure to check with your insurance provider and read the fine print because, normally, regular business insurance or homeowners insurance won’t cover your blog.
But I’m an LLC, so I’m Already Protected, Right?
Not really. An LLC (limited liability company) and blogger insurance cover you in different ways. While an LLC separates your business assets from your personal assets (meaning that if you’re sued, they can’t go after your personal assets), it cannot pay for the cost of, say, hiring a lawyer (that’s what blogger insurance would cover).
Who Offers Blogger Insurance?
My search for blogger insurance was long and arduous. Surprisingly few insurance companies will cover writers or bloggers.
FYI, Hiscox no longer covers writers. They used to, but they have since stopped. Allstate also does not cover writers or bloggers; I know because I tried to get an insurance quote through them.
In my search, these are the companies I found that might offer blogger insurance:
- Axis Pro – In my long, long search for liability insurance for bloggers and freelance writers, Axis Pro was the ONLY one that came through for me! They specialize in media liability insurance, which means they insure freelance writers, journalists, authors, bloggers, and the like. They are the ONLY insurance company I found that 100% for sure sells blogger insurance. When I contacted them to sign up for insurance, they even asked me what my blog URLs were because each blog URL would be listed on my media liability insurance policy.
- CNA (MAYBE) – I found this quote through Bizinsure, and it was for freelance writers. I’m not 100% sure it covers bloggers.
- Liberty Insurance (MAYBE) – I also found this quote through Bizinsure, and it was for freelance writers. I’m not 100% sure it covers bloggers.
- La Playa (MAYBE. Depends on location) – La Playa puzzles me because their website specifically states that they sell “specialist insurance for bloggers and vloggers.” However, when I was looking for blogger insurance, I called them twice and left messages, and they never got back to me. I emailed them again recently to ask if they offer blogger insurance, and this is the response I got:
“Thank you for your email, I am afraid we are unable to help as we are not licensed to place business for companies or individuals based in the State of Florida.”
So it might just depend on where you are located.
How Much Does Blogger Insurance Cost?
When I got my media liability insurance quote from Axis Pro, I was given three different policy options with varying levels of coverage. The least expensive option had an annual premium of $774 for a policy limit aggregate of $250,000. I think it’s well worth the cost for the peace of mind, plus considering how expensive lawyers are, it would be well worth it.
Please keep in mind that I’m also a member of The Authors Guild, which means I got a discount on my Axis Pro policy. For that reason alone, I’d recommend joining The Authors Guild.
