Every practice owner needs to purchase a variety of property and casualty insurance products. For your malpractice insurance, business liability insurance, and workers compensation insurance:
- Do you have the proper coverage for each of these types of insurance?
- Are you paying the lowest premiums to purchase the insurance you need?
When purchasing insurance, you have a few options. You can either purchase directly from an insurance company using their agents, or you can work with an insurance broker who represents multiple companies. Given that the price paid for the insurance is the same whether purchased from an agent or from a broker, why not work with a broker who can shop your insurance needs to multiple providers in search of the most cost-effective products?
There are also other types of property and casualty insurance solutions to consider purchasing for your practice, and a good broker can meet with you to discuss the insurance products available to protect you from those risks, including:
Business Interruption Insurance:
Also called Business Income Insurance, this is generally purchased as part of your business liability insurance policy and kicks in if you cannot work out of your facility due to a fire, flood, or some other catastrophe like that. Business interruption insurance would pay your practice for lost profits while your practice is closed and being repaired.
Business Overhead Expense (BOE) Insurance:
BOE is a type of disability insurance which protects the practice when the owner or primary producer becomes ill or injured and cannot work. Premiums paid for BOE insurance are tax deductible to the practice, and benefits are paid to the practice and would be considered taxable income at that time.
Business Umbrella Insurance:
Umbrella insurance pays for specific losses incurred that exceed the annual limits on your various insurance solutions. While a personal umbrella sits on top of your home and car insurance policies, a business umbrella policy is purchased separately to complement the various business-related insurance policies you purchase.
Cyber Liability Insurance:
If your office ends up getting hacked, the fines and other costs incurred might not be huge. Even so, many of the steps involved following a breach can be very labor intensive, such as dealing with notifying all the patients affected and also obtaining credit monitoring for those patients. Having cyber insurance in place moves those headaches and costs off your plate in the event of a cyber event to your office.
Employment Practice Liability Insurance (EPLI):
EPLI protects you if a disgruntled employee files a claim against your practice after being terminated or for any other reason while under your employment. In today’s era with staff moving around more than ever and feeling less loyalty to their employers, the potential for your practice to be sued by a disgruntled employee is higher now than ever before. More information on EPLI is available at: https://schwartzaccountants.com/2022/06/epli-can-pay-huge-dividends-if-a-disgruntled-employee-sues-your-practice/
Avoid Insurance Charges on Equipment Leases and Loans
While reviewing your insurance needs, take a few minutes to look at your equipment loans and leases. It’s not uncommon for the lender to add a monthly charge for insurance even though the equipment purchased is already fully covered under your business liability policy. If you see an insurance charge on the monthly statement, call the finance company immediately to have that charge stopped and also request that previous insurance payments made be refunded.
Working with an Insurance Broker:
Looking for a Property and Casualty insurance broker who works with a lot of other healthcare practices to help you figure out the coverage your practice needs and the most cost-effective solutions available? If so, please reach out to Joseph Abourizk of Click Insurance at josepha@clickgrp.com or call Joseph at (781) 819-0066.