Liberty Mutual is the latest insurer to add crisis PR support to a commercial policy as the Boston-based company will offer Weber Shandwick’s service to some policyholders.
LM said a crisis management endorsement has been added to its new commercial lead umbrella policy form to better protect mid-sized companies.
Policyholders will have up to 72 hours to identify a crisis and file a claim for up to $50K in consulting from Weber Shandwick. PR coverage can be added up to $250K.
Last year, The Chubb Group of Insurance Companies tacked on up to $300K in crisis communications and other support to its corporate policies. Sard Verbinnen & Co., Abernathy MacGregor Group and MSLGroup, as well as the risk and litigation consulting firm USIS/Kroll, were among the firms approved by Chubb for crisis/PR services.
That followed the creation by WPP, Aon and Zurich Financial of a corporate reputation insurance policy providing up to $100M for PR, lobbying and advertising efforts.
Danya Kazakavich, chief underwriting officer for umbrella at LM, said the 72-hour window is more than other insurers’ 24-hour limit. "Sometimes a situation is clearly a crisis that needs immediate action,” she said. “Other times it can take days for a situation to rise to the level of a full-blown crisis.”