Insurance for Contract Technical Writers? - Please forgive me, I know this topic may have been discussed already, but I can't seem to find it. (I was laid off of my "employee" job the last week of July. So, I am looking for, and finding, some 1099 contract work.) One company I am thinking of working... [Live on TECHWR-L]

In my experience, this is not unusual. One of my large clients requested that I carry $2.5 million in professional liability, but I negotiated with them to reduce it to $1 million. It doesn't hurt to ask--they worst they can do is say no. My client said nothing about general liability, but I have it any way. While help desk or procedure material may not seem like it's critical, do you really want to take the chance? I wouldn't. You never know what could happen, and if it does, it doesn't matter if you're a sole proprietor or not. You can be sued for a little or a lot, and if this is a big client, chances are it will be for a lot. Can you afford to lose that much (i.e., be self-insured)? IMHO, not worth the risk.