Another plug for liability insurance

I participate in a large listserve for local parents. One of the recent threads concerned problems with cakes from a local bakery. There was a long discussion about whether it was okay to post the name of the bakery or if doing so would create the risk of a libel lawsuit. One of the posters responded that for an additional $8.00 a year she added a rider to her homeowner's policy providing coverage for slander and libel. (In insurance terms slander and libel generally come within what is called "personal injury" coverage, an entirely different coverage from "bodily injury" even though the two are synonymous in other contexts.)

Years ago I defended a couple who was sued when they publicly opposed a telephone sex company renting space in the mixed use commercial and residential condominium building where they lived. After several years of litigation they not only prevailed but were awarded their attorney's fees. Had they not had personal injury insurance, however, the process could easily have bankrupted them or forced them into an unfair settlement.

Liability insurance provides not only indemnity (payment of damages to the claimant after the insured loses at trial or settles the case) but also defense, which is sometimes called lawsuit insurance. Because there is always a risk of being sued even when you have done nothing wrong, having such insurance can save you from the tens of thousands of dollars it can cost simply to have a groundless lawsuit dismissed.