If you have always been eager to be a part of the medical world, even to a small degree, while still being your own boss, you may consider starting your own medical courier service. With no special degree required to enter this field, this business is definitely one that you can start.
You only have to acquire the vehicles and equipment you will need in order to transport medical items. After you must have acquired all the foundational supplies and a location for your business, you will need to advertise your business. You can find other drivers who you can employ, or you may decide to do all deliveries yourself.
As a medical courier service, it is very imperative that you get your business insured. You need insurance to cover the medical supplies and samples that you will be transporting.
This insurance will protect you from any surprise costs and will show the people who hire you that you are taking precautions to protect everything that you transport.
Have it in mind that the types of insurance you will be required to carry as a medical courier service will vary depending on factors like the size of your business, your number of employees, your location, the types of medical supplies you transport, and the kinds of vehicles you rely on to do so. Nonetheless, it is always a necessity to carry adequate insurance that protects both you and your business finances.
Necessary Insurance Policies for a Medical Courier Business
As the owner of a medical courier business, your vehicles are critical to the success of your company. If any of them were to be damaged in an auto accident you would have to worry about the expenses involved with repairing it while also losing money each day that it is down.
However, since no two parcel delivery services are the same, it is imperative that you sit down with a skilled commercial insurance broker who will craft a high-calibre medical courier insurance plan for you. However, the most important types of coverage for medical courier services are:
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General Liability Insurance
Liability insurance is mandatory by law in most states. This insurance seeks to protect other drivers from suffering financial losses when the driver of your vehicle causes an accident.
In addition, this insurance helps pay for injuries and damages to other people when your medical courier business vehicle is at fault for an auto accident. This business coverage comes in two types: Bodily injuries and property damages.
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Bodily Injury
When your medical courier vehicle causes an auto accident, the bodily injury portion of your liability insurance takes care of the cost of medical care for the victims involved. This insurance will also cover the cost of emergency and ongoing medical care.
It also caters to the expenses incurred for rehabilitation, physical therapy, and recuperation. It will also cater to the victims for pain and suffering, and if applicable it pays for lost wages due to time off work. When accidents cause fatalities, this coverage also pays for the victim’s funeral expenses.
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Property Damage
If your medical courier business vehicle is at fault for an auto accident, the property damages portion of your liability insurance will cater for the cost of repairs that the other vehicles need.
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Business Auto Insurance
Business or commercial auto insurance is known to cover the general requirements that are common with running a courier business, including those mentioned above such as general liability.
Auto insurance strives to shield your company against any medical, hospital, or emergency transportation expenses that should arise out of injuries sustained during an accident or other mishap for which your company is liable.
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Medical Payments
This insurance protects your drivers and all passengers who are in the vehicle at the time of an auto accident. If anyone is injured, irrespective of who is at fault for the accident, medical payment coverage will cater to the associated medical bills.
It’s advisable you call and speak with a licensed insurance agent to determine if it is a viable option for your medical courier business insurance needs.
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Physical Damage Insurance
Have it in mind that this insurance coverage protects your vehicle directly. If your medical courier vehicle is damaged or destroyed due to unexpected events and perils, this coverage will ultimately cater to the repairs and replacement of your vehicle.
This is very important for medical courier vehicles that are not fully paid for, and those that are leased, because it provides the highest level of loss protection your company can get.
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Comprehensive Physical Damage
This damage protects your medical courier vehicle insurance against various varieties of potential day-to-day risks. It also protects you against theft of your vehicle; break-in, vandalism, damages caused by natural events such as a hail storm, and more. This damage protection covers most damages that are not caused by overturning or by collision.
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Collision Damage
Collision damages also offer you insurance for those times when your vehicle does get damaged in a roll-over or collision.
If, for instance, your vehicle backs into a mailbox while picking up customers, your collision damages protection will pay for the cost of repairs.
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Specified Peril (CAC)
This specified peril insurance provides you with protection against only those events and risks that are specifically listed on your medical courier business insurance policy. It is also known as CAC, which is short for Fire and Theft with Combined Additional Coverage.
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Uninsured or Underinsured Motorist
Notably, this insurance is required especially for your medical courier vehicle service, since it protects you from suffering financial hardships that can be caused by other people.
If another driver causes an accident with your medical courier vehicle and they do not have insurance – or they don’t have enough insurance – this coverage caters for the cost of repairs to your vehicle and pays for the bodily injuries of your driver and passengers.
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Workers Compensation
While general liability insurance protects your business from accidents, it normally doesn’t cover damages that you had the power to avoid.
It more or less means that a lot of workplace injuries aren’t covered. In a worst case scenario, an employee could litigate for the injuries they incurred in the workplace, and that’s where workers comp insurance is the most useful.
Also, if an employee ends up with medical expenses from the workplace accident, workers comp insurance can pay them for the time they were out of work, as well as their medical costs. In return, the employee forgoes the right to sue the employer.
Note that this is a mutually beneficial solution, and it’s more or less the easiest and quickest one as well. Without workers comp in place, you might end up with a months-long legal battle that will drain the wallets of both business and defendant.
Other Commercial Auto Coverage You May Want To Consider Include:
- Rental: Rental insurance pays for the cost of renting a temporary replacement vehicle when yours is down for repairs due to an auto accident.
- Towing: If your medical courier vehicle is damaged extensively in an auto accident it will need to be towed to a repair place of your choosing. Towing insurance will pay for that expense.
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Accessories
Medical courier business insurance should include accessories coverage so that you do not have to pay for repairing or replacing expensive equipment you have installed. Accessories coverage can be added to your business auto insurance to protect you from losses of devices such as GPS navigation units, communications radios, and mileage meters.
Conclusion
The demand for medical courier services is only expected to grow over the coming years, so whether you already own and run a medical courier business or are seriously thinking about taking this step, you can rest assured that this branch of commerce can be a profitable one.
However, unforeseen circumstances can lead to serious financial setbacks unless you have adequately protected your company. Carrying the appropriate insurance keeps you in compliance with the law.