Social Media and Liability

[ncagent83]

Unfortunately, social media is not going away any time soon. There have been many discussions on liability exposures that involve activities on social media. Cyber bullying has also been a hot button issue where parents have the "my child would never do such a thing" mentality. I don't even think kids should be on social media sites anyway.

Let's just say that my clients 17 year old daughter is bullying a classmate online and they decide to commit suicide. The parents of said child sues me for my child's act. Would the HO liability ($300k) and 1m personal umbrella be enough? How much is enough? Does a separate cyber liability policy exist? Just the thought of the day.

 

[Accelerated]

I don't think that the HO liability would even consider "cyber bullying" (or a resulting suicide off of the insured premises) a covered cause of loss. The "Bodily Injury" coverage applied to injuries sustained at the risk location, and further, a specific exclusion in the HO 03 policy applies to "Bodily Injury" or "property damage" arising out of sexual molestation, corporal punishment or physical or mental abuse. The argument could be made that "mental abuse" would be the foundation for the exclusion and subsequent denial in the scenario that you presented.

 

[TeePee]

My company has had to rewrite most of our umbrella policies this year because our new policies now include social media coverage.