Errors and Omissions Insurance

[Spealman -at- aol -dot- com]

Hello,
Last month I asked the list for information regarding obtaining errors and 
omissions coverage; here are my findings:

1 person responded: "I bought my through my independent agent and the policy 
is written by SAFECO surplus Lines Insurance Co. It cost about $1400 per year 
for 1M coverage. It is called First Media Insurance."

There are a number of sources for errors and omissions liability insurance 
for technical writers on the Internet. The sources I found are:

CCBsure Online, a division of ISG International, Inc., Cambridge, MD,   
ccbsure.com

Itinsure, a division of MIMS International, Ltd., Towson, MD,   itinsure.com

Insurenewmedia.com, a division of Gaston Insurance Group, 

Techinsurance.com, Richardson, TX

These companies are focused towards providing coverage for computer 
professionals, though none specifically list coverage for technical writers 
on their websites. However, I found all of them to be aware of our work and 
willing to provide coverage. I learned that because errors and omissions 
liability insurance for computer consultants (and technical writers) is a 
specialty product, it is quoted through surplus lines companies. Surplus 
lines companies have created products to meet the demands of niche markets 
like ours. There are only a few carriers nationally, so our choices are 
limited. Once one broker obtains a quote from a national carrier for you or 
your organization, other brokers are locked out of that carrier.

If you are considering this coverage, you must be sure to find out if the 
liability policy is "admitted" in your state. If the carrier is not admitted 
by your state's insurance guarantee fund, the fund cannot guarantee payment 
of claims should the carrier become insolvent. You should also find out the 
carrier's rating with an organization such as A.M. Best.

Three of the four companies could only provide errors and omissions coverage 
if built into a package policy that included general liability and property 
coverage. That is, they could not provide just errors and omissions coverage. 
Therefore, costs with these carriers were higher, though general liability 
and property coverage are less expensive than errors and omissions coverage. 
All companies were willing to handle a single payment or finance the cost of 
coverage. The most expensive coverage (included general liability and 
property coverage) was $2200; the least expensive coverage (errors and 
omissions only) was $1339.

If you have any further questions, please contact me off-list; I'm on the 
digest version.

Jill Spealman
Wordsmith, Inc.
spealman -at- aol -dot- com
http://sites.netscape.net/wdsmthinc/

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