Non-medical home care liability insurance is an insurance policy designed to see to claims related to the day to day operations of a non-medical home care business.
Non-medical home care providers and businesses perform a wide range of vital tasks that help elderly and incapacitated individuals enjoy a better quality of life.
They assist with daily living activities like cleaning, cooking, dressing, and grooming. Some also offer services like companionship and supervision. Owing to the nature of the services they render, these businesses and individuals face a vast range of liability risks.
Have it in mind that the decisions they make and actions they perform, even when guided by the best of intentions, could cause or aggravate the injury or illness of the people under their care. Nonmedical care liability insurance is paramount for protecting these professionals against potentially devastating lawsuits.
Even though most of the services offered by non-medical home care providers are not medical or healthcare-oriented in nature, there is still a professional liability exposure for the home care firm in providing these types of services.
These include, but are not limited to; mistakes or errors in their work; misunderstandings or miscommunications between themselves, patients, and patients’ families; injury to their patients; damaging a patient’s property; and claims of negligence. Allegations of abuse or molestation are of particular concern due to the vulnerability of the elderly population.
In addition, there is privacy and security concerns involving clients’ protected health information (PHI). If there is a data breach because a home care worker’s laptop was vandalized, for instance, the provider or the agency will be tasked with the costs involved in notifying clients, vetting the cause of the breach, a potential HIPAA regulatory investigation, penalties and liability settlements to third parties if financial damage is found.
Basic Components of a Non-Medical Home Care Liability Insurance
Good and adequate non-medical home care liability insurance can help protect you, your business, and your employees from certain risks associated with the services you render. Here are basic components of non-medical home care liability insurance;
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General Liability Insurance
Note that this sort of liability insurance comes with a host of “third-party” coverage. It provides extensive liability protection in the event of:
- Bodily injury: See to claims resulting from injuries owing to the caregiver’s negligence. The plan will pay judgments and settlements up to policy limits.
- Property damage: For instance, if you cause damage to the home or individual’s personal property during a visit, the policy will cover these so you don’t have to pay for them out of your pocket.
- Personal injury: Note that this coverage applies to injuries or damages resulting from acts of slander, libel, disparagement of goods, false advertising, copyright infringement, and wrongful entry.
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Professional Liability Insurance
The aim of this liability insurance is to safeguard professional service providers from potentially destructive financial damages resulting from alleged negligence or error in the delivery of their services. As a non-medical home care provider, if you get sued, this insurance sees to your legal costs, as the cost of an attorney and a settlement if one is awarded.
If, for instance, you advise a patient to go for a short walk to keep active, but during the walk, they trip and get injured, you can be held liable. The client or their family might argue that you are aware that the client had a physical impairment and insist that you pay for their medical bills. This is one of the scenarios where your professional Liability coverage kicks in and protects you from that financial burden.
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Workers’ Compensation Insurance
If you intend to employ home care providers, then you should really consider getting workers’ compensation insurance. Note that this liability coverage safe guards your workers in the event that they’re injured on the job, and this can easily happen when employees are lifting and otherwise assisting patients. In addition, most states in the United States mandate businesses with employees to seek and obtain worker’s compensation insurance.
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Cyber Insurance
In this technological age, almost every system is susceptible to cyber-attacks. Just like a good number of other businesses, your non-medical home care business uses a computer system to ensure you keep detailed track of client’s details, services, and caregivers.
Have it in mind that a cyber-attack could entail that your business information or even your client’s protected health information (PHI) and financial information is compromised. If you collect this type of information from your clients, it falls on you as a modern business to protect it. Although you can’t always prevent a cyber-attack from happening, Cyber Liability insurance can help your business deal with the fallout should one happen!
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Home-Based Business Insurance
If you run and manage the affairs of your non-medical home care insurance from a home office, getting home-based business insurance is vital. Note that business activities conducted at home are not in any way covered by the standard homeowner’s insurance policies, but they are covered by this insurance. Also, note that home-based business insurance might be included in a business owner’s policy (BOP) or procured through a standalone policy.
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Commercial Auto Insurance
A good number of non-medical home care businesses have vehicles to make it easy to meet the needs of their clients. Owing to that, your business needs to insure any vehicle that it uses to drive to and from clients’ homes. Commercial auto insurance is mandatory, as personal auto policies aren’t meant to safeguard against the heightened risk that comes with work-related driving. Commercial auto insurance can be obtained as part of a package policy or by itself.
Conclusion
Indeed every business should have liability insurance, but anything that is associated with healthcare and client well-being makes it especially imperative to carry insurance as they are among the riskiest businesses and are often fraught with claims.
Over time, you will find that your insurance needs change as your business grows and expand, but to start off on the right foundation, outlined above are necessary liability insurance you have to consider to enable you reach the point of growth. You don’t want to have something beneficial to the success of your business taken away from you before you even get started.