Can your insurance PROTECT YOU from Facebook and Social Media lawsuits?
(From AAA.COM and GO Magazine by Jim McCafferty)
Communicating online with popular websites, like Facebook, offers new ways to meet people and stay in touch globally. However, this comes with unique risks. Anyone using websites should be careful what they or their children say.
In the winter of 2009, a teenager from Oceanside, New York sued Facebook, four of her high school classmates and their parents for $3 million. The suit accuses her classmates of bullying and humiliating her in a Facebook forum. They allegedly posted derogatory and false statements intended to hold her up to "public hatred, ridicule and disgrace." Whether or not the allegations prove true, the teenagers and their parents need legal defense and resources to pay possible judgments against them. They may think their homeowner's insurance policies will help.
HOWEVER, a standard policy will probably not cover this! The policy pays amounts for which the policyholder is legally liable, plus the costs of legal defense, for Bodily Injury or Property Damage done to someone else and defines bodily injury as meaning bodily harm, sickness or disease; it defines property damage as injury to, destruction of, or loss of use of physical property.
Neither definition includes saying or publishing something that injures another's reputation. Consequently, the policy is unlikely to cover a Facebook post. The girl from Oceanside did not allege her classmates hurt her body, made her sick or passed her a disease; she accused them of making her life miserable, which is not covered.
Several of our Insurance companies offer special Personal Injury coverage to homeowner's policies and cover the insured for several offenses, including oral or written publication of material violating someone's privacy. If any of the Oceanside classmates' parents have this coverage, their insurance may cover the claim!
Another source of coverage is a personal umbrella policy that provides additional insurance in situations where a loss has used up the amounts of liability insurance under a homeowner's or auto policy. it covers some liability losses those policies do not, such as personal injury. Umbrellas typically carry deductibles of $250 or $500.
Suppose one of the parents in the Oceanside case doesn't have personal injury coverage on his homeowners policy but does have an umbrella. The umbrella would pay for the child's defense and their shares of any judgement, minus the deductible. If the parent has a homeowner's policy, it will pay until its limits are exhausted, and the umbrella will pay the rest, up to its limit.
Contact me today for coverage options, prices, and more information!
The bottom line is you are exposed to more risks than ever before and these risks could be financially devastating.
As I was watching the local news a few days ago a story caught my attention. A local family had suffered a house fire. Thankfully no one was hurt. However, as an insurance agent, I immediately stopped to listen. The incident was due to a chimney fire. Unfortunately, this type of disaster is not uncommon. As the weather gets cooler, people turn to their fireplaces to make their homes warm and cozy. I would like to encourage you to also make your home SAFE when using your fireplace. Whether you have a wood-burning or gas log fireplace there are things you can do to prevent a fire in your home , I have attached a link below for some helpful tips to make sure your chimney and fireplace is safe and being properly used and maintained.
