Professional liability insurance is a broad type of insurance that generally helps protect professionals from liability claims related to the services they provide. Because there are many different kinds of professionals, there are several different types of professional liability coverage. Here are some of the different types that are available to Massachusetts professionals.
What Are the Different Kinds of Professional Liability Insurance, And Which Massachusetts Professionals Should Consider Each?
Medical Malpractice Insurance
Medical malpractice insurance is one of the most well-known types of professional liability insurance. It helps safeguard medical providers from covered liability suits filed by patients who claim they were mistreated. This is such a well-known type of professional liability coverage partly because these claims can sometimes reach large sums, and medical providers in Massachusetts often carry high amounts of coverage.
Most doctors know they should have medical malpractice insurance, but they aren’t the only medical providers who can benefit from this coverage. Any licensed medical provider, even a low-level emergency medical technician, might want to protect themselves with a policy. (In some cases, providers are covered by a policy their employer or volunteer organization maintains.)
Directors and Officers Insurance
Directors and officers insurance is a unique form of professional liability coverage. Rather than providing protection from risks associated with a particular industry (like medical malpractice insurance does), directors and officers insurance offers protection for professionals who have specific positions within companies or organizations. It helps shield high-ranking officials of companies, nonprofits and other organizations from some of the risks that their roles as leaders present.
Anyone who is in a leadership role may want directors and officers insurance. Leaders may be held more responsible for their decisions and actions than a typical employee would be, and they can be exposed to increased risk no matter how large or small the business or nonprofit they lead is. In many cases, a directors and officers policy is the best way leaders have to protect themselves.
There is another way in which this insurance is unique. While directors and officers policies generally protect leaders of organizations, they’re usually paid for by the organizations that leaders are in charge of. Organizations normally pay for these policies because the policies offer protection against risks that leading the organizations present.
Errors and Omissions Coverage
Errors and omissions coverage is a form of professional liability coverage that’s generally designed to protect people who offer advice for a living. This type of coverage may be suitable for any professional who gives advice, which can include:
- Lawyers, who regularly offer legal advice to clients
- Accountants, who frequently offer financial and tax advice
- Insurance agents, who give clients advice on insurance coverages and policies
- Real estate agents and brokers, who provide clients with advice on real estate purchases and sales
- Investment advisors, who offer clients advice on stocks, mutual funds and other investments
- Plumbers, carpenters, electricians and other tradespeople, who sometimes give advice related to their field
- Landscapers, who occasionally provide advice on landscaping
Errors and omissions policies are often further specialized for the type of professional purchasing a policy. For example, a lawyer would likely get an errors and omissions policy that’s slightly different from a landscaper’s policy.
Work with a Massachusetts Agent Who Knows Professional Liability Insurance
If you offer professional services in Massachusetts, make sure you’re properly insured. Contact an independent insurance agent in the state who is familiar with professional liability insurance. A knowledgeable, independent agent can help you determine what coverages you ought to have, and they can help you find a professional liability policy that offers those protections.
