Burand’s Agency E&O Blog: Tip #49

Date Stamping. Could any E&O blog address a simpler subject than date stamping? Maybe not, but date stamping correctly to mitigate E&O exposures is something too few agencies practice.

Most agencies I visit have a practice of opening all incoming mail, date stamping it, and distributing it or scanning it. So far, so good. The first exposure they create though is that not all mail is opened. Personal & Confidential mail often is not opened. Instead, the receptionist date stamps the envelope and forwards the mail to the appropriate recipient. Most often what happens then is the recipient opens the envelope and tosses it without date stamping what’s inside. At that point, the chain of control is lost. All Personal & Confidential mail should be opened and date stamped. Maybe a special person can be designated for this if management is not comfortable with the receptionist opening possibly sensitive mail. Maybe you can identify another option. The end result should be that all mail is date stamped.

Possibly a more significant exposure exists with emails. As with so much electronic communication, crooks and devious people have discovered how to forge electronic date stamps on email. This is why standard email system date stamps may not be upheld in court. The solution to this exposure is purchasing and using special software for which its email date stamps have more credibility in court.