What Is Professional Liability Insurance for Acupuncturists?
Even the most competent, qualified acupuncturist needs to protect themselves from the inherent risks that come when treating a client. Whether your patient is in their mid-20s or early 60s, varying risks will accompany any age.
Professional liability insurance will not only protect you and your business, but it can also protect the clients who are in your care. In the event of a covered claim, professional liability insurance will cover the cost of court awarded damages to your client and will pay for your defense costs. You can count on us to provide you with several options for coverage and make sure you are prepared for different challenges in your industry.
EasyCover Canada offers affordable Professional Liability Insurance for Acupuncturists. You may already have Commercial General Liability Insurance (CGL) in place, especially if you’re working for a larger company.
However, CGL Insurance policies typically don’t cover damages resulting from professional services or advice. Our affordable Professional Liability Insurance will protect you in the event you are taken to court by a client who believes you have been negligent, in providing your services.
Common Scenarios Where Acupuncturist Liability Insurance may help
As an acupuncturist, you likely deal with a wide array of clients, all who have different reasons for coming to see you for treatment. They may be former athletes dealing with chronic pain issues or patients whose work is so intensive they’ve started to suffer from joint and muscle pain. Administrative errors, such as inadequately protecting your client’s personal information, can leave you vulnerable to claims.
EasyCover provides options to protect your livelihood so you can continue to do the work you know and love.
- In a marketing effort, you, as an acupuncturist, advertise the benefits of a treatment you offer. This results in a client coming to see you for treatment, paying for it, and then not experiencing the benefits that were advertised. They sue, but your professional liability insurance would cover you for your defense costs and settlements.
- As an acupuncturist, you’re aware of the risk that is pushing a needle too deeply and causing further issues to a client who needs treatment. Unfortunately, mistakes do happen. This very event occurs, and the client requires compensation for further treatment.
- As you know, clients who have bleeding disorders or are on blood thinners are more susceptible to injury from experiencing acupuncture. Unfortunately, due to an oversight, you fail to remember this patient’s particular condition and undergo a lengthy treatment process regardless. They suffer injury and sue you for compensation and their medical bills.
How Much Is Acupuncture Malpractice Insurance?
The cost of acupuncture liability insurance, or acupuncture malpractice insurance, is largely dependent on your business’ risk appetite. Acupuncturists can deal with the smallest of injuries or issues, such as mild wrist pain and stress, to larger issues, such as chronic arthritis and debilitating joint pain from an injury suffered in a car crash years ago. As such, it can be very difficult to assume one price point for these businesses since the value of the service acupuncturists provide can be varied.
For the most part, you will find that your insurance costs for acupuncturist liability insurance will be based on the following characteristics:
- Your industry or specialty
- Your gross or average revenue
- Your business’ size
- Your business’ history
- Your insurance history
- The value of your service
- Your clients
- Your employees
EasyCover can get you an instant acupuncture malpractice insurance quote for free so you can see a rough estimate of how much your insurance will cost.
Do Acupuncturists Need Insurance?
Acupuncturists work in medicine, and the weight of a loss due to mistreatment or error is huge. Like any healthcare professional, acupuncturists are required to carry at least $2 million in coverage to maintain a licence in most provinces within Canada. They may also need additional insurance for their workers, place of practice, and third-party liability.
How Much Acupuncture Insurance Coverage Should I Get?
If your acupuncture business was ever sued for alleged or actual negligence, your acupuncture liability insurance would kick in to help cover the costs. Consider all the goes into a lawsuit, from the legal expenses and defense costs to any awards and settlements.
EasyCover offers three levels of protection:
- $1 million
- $2 million
- $5 million
These levels of coverage are the maximum amount that your acupuncture liability insurance will pay out over the course of a 12-month term, regardless of the number of claims you make during this period. If those claims exceeded your limits, the remaining amount would have to come out-of-pocket. That’s why it’s critical to purchase the right amount of coverage.
When determining the right amount of coverage, consider your industry, the average cost of a lawsuit in your industry, the value of the service you provide, your clients, and what they could lose.
Each claim you make will be subject to a deductible, which is the amount you are required to pay before your insurance kicks in to compensate you for the remaining costs.
Will Acupuncture Malpractice Insurance Cover My Home-based Clinic?
If you run an acupuncture clinic out of your own home, you still need to acquire acupuncture liability insurance as it is required by law in most provinces in Canada and you will not be able to get licensed without it.
You will also need to inform your home insurance provider about your business venture. If any of your business property should be damaged, or if a client hurts themselves while visiting your property (such as slipping while coming up your driveway), any claim you would need to file would have to fall under your commercial insurance policy, and not your personal insurance.
Your home or tenant insurance provider should be aware of your business activities but note that any work you conduct in a home-based clinic should be insured adequately under a separate acupuncture business policy. You may need to purchase separate coverage in addition to your acupuncture malpractice insurance for your supplies or general liability.
Does acupuncture liability insurance cover other services that I provide?
It depends on the scope of your policy. Your acupuncture liability insurance may cover you for any claims made against your business alleging negligence, errors, and omissions, but it helps to pay attention to the wording in your policy and see what everything includes.
Professional liability insurance is technically suited to any professional service or advice, but if you offer additional services, such as the diagnosing ailments, disorders, and dysfunctions, you may need to disclose that to your insurance provider to ensure it can be covered.
If you sell any products, such as at-home remedies, ointments, salves or otherwise, you may need to purchase separate insurance to protect your liability stemming from those products. Product liability insurance can cover you if your products cause injury or illness to customers and, similar to your acupuncture liability insurance, can cover lawsuit expenses, like defense costs, settlements and judgement awards.
Your best bet is to work with an insurance professional to go over your business, what it offers, and make sure that your insurance accurately reflects your business’ needs and exposures.
Protect yourself from the unexpected.
Get Acupuncturist Professional Liability Insurance from EasyCover today.
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