A hot topic as of late is whether travel bloggers (and bloggers in general) should have blogger insurance. This includes anything from general liability to errors and omissions coverage. After discussion this with other bloggers, lawyers and insurance industry professionals (and yes I realized they’re slightly biased), the short answer is absolutely!
Personally, I have had travel blogger insurance for the last couple years and I don’t think I could ever go back to not having it. Call it naivety or ignorance, the thought of not having coverage scares me now that I know what the downside risks are.
So what are the downsides? Well let me begin by clarifying that unless you get a decent amount of revenue to your blog, blogger insurance is probably not needed unless you have a lot of traffic and are just choosing not to monetize your blog. This being said, if you get a decent amount of revenue or traffic to your blog, the downsides are enormous. Revenues essentially means that you are a business. Similar to any shop, store, freelancer or publication out there you are running a business that offers advice, tips or other information that your readers could use in their own lives in exchange for monetary gain (including free trips, products and experiences). So this means that if anybody has a negative experience related your content, they may very well take you to court.
So again, what are the downsides? Well if you’re not incorporated (which I highly recommend as well), anybody suing you can come after all your assets, including your house. Yikes! On top of this, since your blog can be read anywhere in the world, you could get sued in any city/country. If this happens, you either have the choice to go defend yourself (which could be an expensive trip) or ignore it and hope it doesn’t affect you the next time you travel to that country (or even within your home country). By having insurance, the insurance company will usually cover you for any liabilities worldwide. This means that if any of the above happens, the insurance company will deal with it on your behalf, essentially leaving you unscathed and stress-free.
The big question now is, how much does insurance like this cost? Although it varies on your coverage options, a good starting point is between $1,500USD and $2,000USD a year, which includes the following:
- General liability insurance i.e. You’re at a travel convention and accidentally trip someone with your suitcase
- Errors and omission insurance i.e. You used a photo owned by someone else and forget to give them credit
- Rental car insurance
- Property insurance i.e. Your laptop gets stolen
- Drone insurance
- Many more…
Although it might seem expensive, getting insurance has allowed me to take on more interesting opportunities, including those that involve taking footage with a drone. Also, many tourism boards are starting to ask for proof of insurance before taking on any bloggers for FAM trips, especially if it involves any outdoor activities.
At the end of the day, it comes down to your risk tolerance and whether you believe in the downside of not having insurance. Good luck!