Billboard Insurance

Insider get lots of questions about billboard insurance.  Here are Insider’s thoughts.

What kinds of insurance do you need?

General Liability – This is a must to mitigate risk.  Most landlords will also require evidence of insurance in case your billboard causes damages to their property or to someone on their property.  The usual coverage is $1 million per occurrence with a $2 million aggregate limit.  Big landlords may require more protection but $1 million/$2 million is the industry standard.

Replacement – A steel structure is indestructible and reasonably cheap ($15,000-40,000) so insider doesn’t have replacement coverage on his steel structures.  You might want to consider a replacement policy if you have non-conforming boards in storm-prone areas where you can’t rebuild damaged billboards.  You should also insure digital billboards.  A 14 by 48 digital billboard can cost $125,000 per face.  Insider can think of one case where heat from a building fire destroyed a digital billboard across the street.  Storms can also damage digital billboards.  The insurance companies write digital billboard policies as inland marine coverage.  Don’t ask Insider why.

Umbrella Coverage – This is insurance which is intended to kick in when you’ve exhausted your general liability policy.  You may want to consider this if you have a larger operation or are active in an urban area when damages from a bad event may be much higher.

Cyber Policy – This policy will protect your company from risks of cyber-attack.  Insider knows that these risks are real because his company was attacked in 2016 and the attacker attempted to wrest control of his website.  A cyber policy will pay for the following costs associated with a cyber attack.

  • notification of clients
  • costs of dealing with extortion threats as well as payments in response to a threat
  • costs of misdirected payment fraud
  • liability from having a digital billboard hacked.

The best way to mitigate cyber risk is to employ strong preventative measures (e.g. two factor authorization of email and sensitive websites, a web firewall and anti-phishing/malware training for employees).  When, incidently, was the last time your reviewed cyber-risk in an employee meeting?  You should also physically secure your digital billboards and use Smartlink’s intrusion management system.

What sort of agent do I need?

Insider suggests that you use an Insurance Agent that understands the billboard business and can operate in multiple states if you do to.  Many insurance agents can only offer policies in certain states.  Insider uses and endorses Stuart Lee of Bassler Insurance.

What are your thoughts about Out of Home insurance.  Let insider know using the form below.

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One Comment

  1. need insurance for billboard installing. just me.