The unique thing about professional indemnity insurance is that it covers your business for a wide variety of legal complaints. This includes cover for legal costs and compensation payouts over lawsuits relating to negligence, loss of documents, breach of duty, dishonesty and breach of confidentiality.
Another aspect that is taken care of is defamation, covering complaints of libel and slander. Many companies don’t realise the importance of this type of civil liability cover but in truth, problems with defamation occur frequently in the course of day-to-day running.
Freelancer Sued For Defamation By Samsung
This case is the perfect example of a profession in need of professional indemnity cover. British freelance writer Michael Breen has been sued by Samsung for defamation after he wrote a satirical column alluding at many points to the Korean electronics corporation’s past brushes with bribery and corruption. Samsung took issue and filed a lawsuit for defamation, which could mean hefty fines for Mr Breen if the ruling is not in his favour.
A freelance journalist effectively running his own business could find it destroyed by legal costs and fines, especially when facing up to such a large corporation as Samsung. Writers and journalists –although more in need of defamation cover than other professions – are not the only ones at risk however. The safe option is to always opt for a comprehensive professional indemnity insurance policy.