Professional Liability Insurance for Medical Professionals – Why do I need it and how much does it cost?

Professional liability for medical professionals is getting more popular in recent years. Professional liability provides legal protection for those who provide professional advice or services. Because a general liability policy is triggered by bodily injury, property damage, personal injury, or advertising injury, you can be left without legal protection in the event that you are sued for services rendered or advice given to your clients or patients.

For example, you are a nutritionist providing weight-loss advice. You have been raving to all of your clients about a new diet you’ve created. The diet results in weight loss, but also a spike in cholesterol levels in certain types of people (which you were unaware of). One of your clients has a heart attack as a result. Professional liability would protect you in this situation.

Another example would be that you are responsible for training the incoming nursing recruits at your hospital. You’ve trained a hundred incoming nurses in your time at the hospital. Years later, it turns out that you have been teaching these employees the incorrect way to use a certain piece of equipment which has led to multiple injuries and lawsuits. You are pulled into this because it was you who incorrectly trained these people to do the job. Professional liability would provide coverage for such a situation.

Many medical professionals are being required to (or choosing to) carry individual professional liability insurance separate from that of their employer.There are several reasons for this:

1. The primary reason is that we are living in a time when attorneys will list as many parties as possible in a lawsuit when their client suffers a loss. This means the business you are working for, the manufacturer of any products you use, and even you as an individual. Even though you may ultimately be released from the lawsuit, defense costs can add up. Defense costs are included in your individual policy.
2. Many medical professionals are working as independent contractors for one or more companies. Because of this, these companies will require you to carry insurance. The reason is that they are looking to create a separation between you and the company for legal and cost-saving purposes.
3. If you are educating or training others in your field, you could be pulled into a lawsuit down the road if one of your trainees is sued as a result of using techniques provided by you.

Fortunately for you,professional liabilityinsurance for medical professionals in Pennsylvania is typically very cheap. For an individual in a relatively low-hazard class, you can expect to pay somewhere around $250 per year. Some of the classes below are those that will fall into the low-cost program:

Call Risk Averse Insurance in Media, PA to discuss medical professional insurance for you or your business.

Risk Averse Insurance is an insurance agency in Delaware County that specializes in providing high-quality insurance products at an affordable price.