Re: Belated Followup and Thanks to Billing Problems

[Barb Philbrick <caslonsvcs -at- IBM -dot- NET>]

Jon:

I think the company was misguided. E&O is a fairly specific insurance
for printing and publishing. It's expensive because it's meant to
cover a printer's error in big print jobs. Imagine messing up the
front cover registration on a Lands' End catalog print run and not
noticing till it was finished.

General business liability should be sufficient. Mine covers me for
US$1M liability and $1M legal fees. The insurance company also
required that my contract state that I am not responsible for final
copy -- the client must have a qualified person review all work. (No
problem there, since I'd be shaking in my boots if I didn't do this
anyway.)

Sounds like it's too late, but talk to the prospect company and
explain the differences. You might be able to get a waiver, or be
lumped in a different Approved Vendor category (such as with
engineering contractors) that doesn't have this requirement.

Barb


>Could you elaborate about what is included in the policy. Is this an Errors
>and Omissions (E&O) policy or simply a General Business Liability policy?
>
>I went shopping 2 years ago after I was told by a prospect company that to
>be included in the approved vendor list I needed liability insurance.
>General liability was easy (covers business equipment, etc.). However, the
>company meant E&O insurance. I talked to several local insurance agents and
>brokers and they had never heard of E&O for technical writing. Yes, for
>publishers, such as newspapers, but this stuff is expensive.

Barbara Philbrick, Caslon Services Inc.
Technical Writing