You bought the media with the client’s money, and the wire went to the wrong account.Founded by a television editor who also writes software.
We insure advertising and creative agencies with media and professional liability for the work, crime coverage for media-buy wire fraud, and production coverage for the shoots you run.
Tell us the situation.
One licensed human replies the same business day — not five agents, not an auto-responder. If the policy you have is already the right one, we will tell you.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
Your creative and your client logins get read by someone who has handled both.
Kevin Kelsey
Founder | Principal Agent
Boring’s founder, Kevin Kelsey, edited network TV for fifteen years before he sold a policy. He also ran compliance and risk for some of Hollywood’s biggest production companies. A music license or a talent release is familiar ground. He writes software too, and owns two post-production software products, Manifest Post and B/side. So when a client asks your agency for media liability, E&O and cyber, the clause is read by someone who has done both jobs.
Send us what you have. We’ll tell you if it’s right.
Your current policy paperwork, a renewal notice, or nothing at all. A licensed agent reads it and replies the same business day.
What advertising agency businesses actually need.
Media liability
Copyright, trademark and trade dress infringement, defamation in a comparison ad, invasion of privacy and right of publicity in the creative you produce.
Without it — The general liability form excludes personal and advertising injury for an insured in the advertising business, which is a description of you.
Professional liability (E&O)
Claims that the agency’s work or advice cost a client money: a missed flight date, a placement error, a production delay that pushed a launch.
Without it — A client claim for lost sales is pure financial loss, which nothing else on the program pays.
Crime and social engineering
Client money lost to a fraudulent payment instruction, a spoofed media vendor or an employee who diverted funds.
Without it — An agency that pays media on a client’s behalf moves large sums on email instructions, and cyber forms usually exclude a transfer someone authorized.
Production coverage
The shoot itself: rented equipment, locations, props, third-party property and the injury to cast and crew that a commercial production carries.
Without it — An office policy does not travel to a location shoot, and the rental house and the location both ask for their own certificate.
Cyber liability
A breach of the agency’s systems or of client ad and social accounts you manage, with the response costs and the client’s claim.
Without it — Agencies hold client assets, logins and audience data, and a compromised account can run up spend before anyone notices.
General liability, workers comp and EPLI
The office, the events, employees hurt at work, and claims by staff.
Without it — The lease and the client onboarding portal want the certificate, and the state requires workers comp from the first hire.
What the regulators actually wrote down.
The standard ISO general liability form excludes personal and advertising injury for any insured whose business is advertising, broadcasting, publishing or telecasting, or designing or determining the content of websites for others, which describes most agencies.
ISO Commercial General Liability Coverage Form CG 00 01 04 13, Coverage B, exclusion j · checked 2026-10-04
The same form excludes copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret infringement except infringement of copyright, trade dress or slogan in your own advertisement, so creative made for a client falls outside it.
ISO Commercial General Liability Coverage Form CG 00 01 04 13, Coverage B, exclusion i · checked 2026-10-04
A copyright owner can elect statutory damages of $750 to $30,000 per work infringed, and up to $150,000 per work where the infringement was willful, without proving any actual loss.
17 U.S.C. § 504(c) · checked 2026-10-04
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded 21,442 business email compromise complaints in 2024, with reported losses of $2,770,151,146.
FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2024 Internet Crime Report · checked 2026-10-04
The FTC’s Endorsement Guides state that advertising agencies, public relations firms, review brokers and reputation management companies may be liable for their roles in creating or disseminating endorsements they know or should know are deceptive, and for hiring and directing endorsers who fail to disclose a material connection.
FTC Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, 16 CFR § 255.1(d) · checked 2026-10-04
The U.S. Copyright Office concluded in January 2025 that material generated wholly by AI, without sufficient human control over its expressive elements, is not protected by copyright.
U.S. Copyright Office, Copyright and Artificial Intelligence, Part 2: Copyrightability (January 2025) · checked 2026-10-04
The claims we actually see.
Ordered by how often we see them, not by how dramatic they are. Each one names the coverage that answers it — and the policy people wrongly assume already does.
Most common
A rights holder objects to an image, a track or a lookalike in a campaign
Covered by Media liability, copyright, trademark and right of publicity
A usage license for one medium or one year does not cover the next. Talent and music held past their usage term are a common claim, and some forms exclude disputes over fees you agreed to pay.
Common
A payment to a media vendor goes to a fraudster’s account after a changed-bank-details email
Covered by Crime, social engineering or funds transfer fraud
Social engineering coverage is often sublimited to a small fraction of the policy. Check the sublimit against your largest single media payment.
Less common, severe
A competitor sues over a comparison ad
Covered by Media liability, where the form covers disparagement and unfair competition
General liability excludes failure of goods to perform as advertised and most claims from businesses in advertising. Read the media form for its treatment of false advertising.
Common
Equipment is damaged or a crew member is hurt on a shoot
Covered by Production package and workers comp
Rented gear is not your property, so an office contents policy does not cover it, and freelancers on set may count as employees for workers comp.
What the insurance company will ask about your advertising agency business
We read the applications the markets use for businesses in this field and pulled out what they actually ask. Have these answers ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week, because nobody has to come back to you for the missing piece.
About the business
- How long have you been in business?
- How many employees do you have?
- What will your gross revenue be for the next 12 months?
- Do you rent equipment to others for events you're not working on?
How you operate
- Do you hire subcontractors for any work?
- If you use subcontractors, do you require them to show proof of insurance?
- Do you sign contracts that make you responsible for the events or projects you work on?
- If you provide rigging services, are you ETCP certified?
- Do you have any training, certifications, or credentials relevant to your work?
Safety and controls
- Will any of your work involve traveling internationally or outside the U.S.?
- If so, how many days per year do you work outside the U.S., and which cities will you visit?
Your history
- Have you had any losses or claims in the past?
- Have you been convicted of any crimes or had any non-traffic violations?
- Have you filed for bankruptcy in the last 3 years?
- Has any of your insurance been declined, cancelled, or not renewed in the last 3 years?
Money and people
- Do you want coverage if someone is accidentally injured at one of your events?
- Do you want hired and non-owned auto insurance?
Have these ready
- Your current insurance information, including the policy number and dates if you have coverage with another company
- Proof of insurance from any subcontractors you work with
- Your last five years of claims history from your current insurer, called loss runs
- A list of the venues or clients where you typically work
You answer what you can; a licensed agent fills the rest with you.
What our advertising agency clients ask us.
What insurance does an advertising agency need?
Media liability and professional liability, usually on one agency form, because the claims come from rights holders and from clients. Crime coverage with social engineering if you pay media on a client’s behalf. A production package for any shoot you run, since an office policy does not follow you to a location. Then cyber, general liability, workers comp and employment practices around them.
Does general liability cover advertising injury for an ad agency?
Not for the work you do for clients. The general liability form covers personal and advertising injury, which includes libel and some infringement in your own advertising, and then excludes any insured whose business is advertising, broadcasting, publishing or telecasting. An agency’s client work needs media liability. Your general liability still answers for your own ads and for injury at the office.
We pay media vendors with client money. How do we insure a wire fraud loss?
Through crime coverage with a social engineering or funds transfer fraud part, set at a limit close to your largest single payment. Cyber usually excludes it, because a person authorized the transfer. Insurers ask whether you confirm changed bank details by phone to a number you already had, and agencies that do get better terms. Also read the media contract, because it decides whether you or the client owes the vendor if the money is lost in between.
Who is liable if AI-generated creative infringes someone else’s work?
Usually the agency that delivered it, and then the client that ran it, whatever tool produced the image. Most client contracts make the agency warrant the work is original and indemnify the client if it is not. Material generated wholly by AI may not be protected by copyright, so the warranty is harder to keep. Some 2026 policies exclude generative AI and some cover it in writing; ask which you have before AI work goes into a campaign.
What is the difference between media liability and professional liability for an ad agency?
Media liability answers third parties who say the creative wronged them, through infringement, defamation or privacy. Professional liability answers the client who says the agency’s work or advice cost them money. Clients often ask for both in one insurance clause, and many agency forms combine them, so check the declarations for both coverage parts.
We produce commercials. Do we need production insurance as well?
Yes, for every shoot. A production package covers rented equipment, props, sets, locations and third-party property, and the rental house and location will each ask for a certificate naming them. An agency that shoots regularly is usually better off with an annual production policy than buying one shoot at a time. Media E&O for a finished spot may also be required if it is going to broadcast.
How much does insurance cost for an advertising agency?
We do not publish an agency figure yet, because our own sample is too small to quote honestly. Price follows revenue, the share of it that is production or media buying, the industries your clients are in, the limits your contracts name and your claims history. A shop that pays media on clients’ behalf adds crime coverage, and one that produces shoots adds a production package. One video producer’s $5M media liability placement through us ran about $8,000 a year.
Can I ask ChatGPT or another assistant to send you the request?
Yes. Paste the insurance section of your client contract into the assistant and ask it to prefill our quote form at boring.insure/quote with your agency name, contact details and the exact limits the contract names in the comments. Nothing is sent until you review it and press send, and a licensed agent reads every request. Assistants can find the full instructions at boring.insure/for-assistants.
What does a advertising agency insurance application ask for?
The applications for advertising agency businesses ask about 4 things above all: how long have you been in business; do you hire subcontractors for any work; will any of your work involve traveling internationally or outside the u.s.; have you had any losses or claims in the past. Have your current insurance information, including the policy number and dates if you have coverage with another company and proof of insurance from any subcontractors you work with ready and a quote takes a day instead of a week.
Commercial insurance is 96% of what we do — it is not a department here, it is the whole business. Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.
Handed a lease, a vendor packet or a client contract with insurance requirements? Paste it into the COI Requirements Decoder to see what each one means for your business, or read what the requirements mean.