Crisis management

Not only do you need to worry about protecting your assets against the potential risk of a lawsuit, but you also have to protect your reputation. A damaged reputation can impact your employment and future earnings potential as well as cause you and your family members a lot of emotional stress.

How you may be at risk

Affluent and high net worth individuals are more likely to be targets of litigation and reputational attacks in the media as they are often visible members of the community. You need to be prepared to craft the right message so you can react quickly to mitigate the damage if you are involved in a crisis impacting your reputation. Having access to a professional crisis management firm will give you peace of mind should an unfortunate situation occur.

Consider the following crisis situations:

• A prominent doctor wants to be president of the local wine club. While attempting to persuade members to vote for him, he makes some slanderous comments about a local CPA who also wants to be president. The remarks were overheard by a member who writes for the local paper, and he has written a scathing article about the incident. The doctor is now facing a PR situation.
• During a birthday party at a home, a child drowns in the pool. The story is quickly picked up by the media, largely because the family who hosted the party has a high profile in the community.
• A driver ran a stoplight while coming home from dinner with some friends. His car crashed into another vehicle, causing severe injuries. After failing a sobriety test, he was arrested for DUI. Because he is a prominent person in his city, a witness tweeted about the accident and tagged the local newspaper.

In each of the above scenarios, the person’s reputation has been called into question. Assuming the underlying incidents are covered losses, can you foresee how you would need a crisis management firm if one of these situations happened to you? Think of the crisis management coverage as additional protection for your reputation.

How Nationwide Private Client responds

With the personal excess liability protection endorsement, you receive crisis management coverage for mitigation of potential damages or injury to your reputation caused by a covered occurrence or wrongful employment act. If you are implicated in a covered liability situation that could tarnish your reputation, you should report the claim to your insurance agent and Nationwide Private Client by calling our toll-free number at 1-855-473-6410, and if applicable, we can help you secure a crisis management firm. We will provide up to $250,000 to cover reasonable expenses from the PR or crisis management firm of your choice.

The optional protection endorsement also includes:

• Expanded defense coverage increased limits of $250,000
• Family trust management practices¹ defense coverage up to an annual aggregate of $250,000

Why it’s important for you

By adding the personal excess liability protection endorsement to Nationwide Private Client excess liability policies, you are not only helping to protect your assets, you’re helping to protect your reputation.

Nationwide Private Client offers these added benefits:

• Specialized claims service: Our team of problem-solvers is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.