Which statement best describes the difference between personal injury and an advertising injury?

• A. Personal injury refers to individuals; advertising injury is incurred to a business; both, however, are nonphysical injuries
• B. Personal injury is physical harm; advertising injury is financial loss
• C. Personal injury is only for employees; advertising injury only for customers
• D. Personal injury covers theft; advertising injury covers fraud

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is understanding how liability policies separate nonphysical harms into two areas: personal injury and advertising injury. Personal injury covers offenses against a person’s rights, such as libel, slander, false arrest, or invasion of privacy—injuries done to individuals’ reputation or personal rights, not physical harm. Advertising injury covers harms that arise from advertising your business or in advertising activities, such as false or deceptive advertising, misappropriation of advertising ideas, or copyright/trademark issues in ads. So this option correctly notes that personal injury affects individuals, while advertising injury affects a business through its advertising, and both are nonphysical injuries. The other ideas misstate the concepts: personal injury is not physical harm, advertising injury isn’t limited to financial loss, and these terms aren’t defined by who is involved (employees vs customers) or by theft or fraud specifically.