Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/142672
Protecting Your Business shower from the oil on her feet and broke her tibia and fibula. "Accidents can and do happen," Henderson says. Armitage says having the right insurance protection can help keep the nightmares at bay. "We have had many claims for tables collapsing, on-site chairs collapsing, clients falling or tripping, even a candle that ignited some alcohol that spilled onto the client and caused extensive burns," she says. "I don't plan on having a car accident on the way home today, but it could happen and that's why we all protect ourselves with insurance. You want to protect your assets and even your future earnings." Armitage says even the most well-loved therapists can't control how their clients are feeling on a particular day. "We have seen longtime clients turn on their therapist when they truly believe they've been injured in some way. Nothing is guaranteed." The Details Much of the existing marketing hype makes picking the right insurance confusing. Armitage says when shopping around for professional liability insurance, consider some key things. "First, make sure all coverage provided in the policy is occurrence form, that it includes general liability, and has a per member, per year aggregate limit that is not a shared member aggregate," she says. Occurrence form policies are the best option for your liability needs, because they will protect you, even if you are no longer insured. History shows that many claims aren't filed In addition to professional liability insurance (with general liability and product coverage) and business personal property insurance, there are other coverages you might consider adding to protect your livelihood. Property insurance. If you own the building that houses your business or school, you will want to insure it for the full replacement cost of the building, not the market value or purchase price. Replacement coverage replaces covered losses with new materials without deducting for depreciation. Business income. When a covered event prohibits you from doing business as usual and creates a loss of business, some policies cover actual loss of income for up to 12 months. Business auto. If your business owns any vehicles, insure them for liability and physical damage. Workers compensation. If you have employees, most states mandate that you carry workers compensation coverage. This protects your business if an employee is injured on the job and covers lost wages and medical expenses as a result of that injury. Employment practices liability. This protects you from claims arising from violations of state and federal employment laws. until the statute of limitations has nearly run out (two years after the incident in most states). So, for example, if your insurance was effective in July 2012, but you let it lapse a year later, went out of business, or changed insurance providers, you would still be covered for any incidents occurring in July 2012 with an occurrence policy. If, however, you had a claims-made policy, you would not be covered in this example. Claims-made policies require that claims be made while the policy is still in effect. If your claims-made policy expired, and someone filed a claim against you, you would have no coverage, even though you were insured at the time of the incident. Claims-made policies are less expensive, but under the adage of you get what you pay for, they also provide considerably less coverage. General liability is another important piece of your insurance portfolio and is often included as part of your professional liability coverage. Make sure it is. Whereas professional liability covers the work you do, general liability covers the