The fear among professionals of being denounced for malpractice is growing every day. Claims were sparse in the past out of respect or fear. But today, clients will find whatever reason to try to sue you for malpractice.
Because of this, there has been more doubt about how much malpractice insurance costs. Depending on the career you practice, the costs can vary.
What careers need malpractice insurance? Costs for each!
It is common knowledge that the professions requiring malpractice insurance are lawyers and doctors. Their careers carry too many risks, and they need it even more if they are specialists.
But every day, more and more jobs require this type of insurance. Recently, new careers related to health and economics have been included. Teachers, counselors, physical therapists, insurance agents, contractors, brokers, accountants, and real estate agents are included.
Most of these professions carry relatively inexpensive malpractice insurance compared to doctors and lawyers because of the consequences of malpractice in their working lives.
Teachers
Because of the many problems that arise in schools today, parents can be expected to be more irritable. So if a parent decides to sue a school or a teacher, it is best to be insured.
Teacher malpractice insurance will cost around $100 a year but will get you a $1 million policy. Besides being necessary, it is easy for teachers to obtain because of the inexpensive costs.
Therapists and counselors
It is best to have malpractice insurance when it comes to health. Because of a therapist’s close working relationship with their patient, it is normal for the patient to decide to sue if they feel things are going wrong.
The monthly premium that this professional must pay for their liability insurance is approximately $500 per year or $40 per month.
Physical therapy or physiotherapy
This work is based on rehabilitating patients who have recently undergone surgery or have suffered accidents. It deals with patients who are in a docile state.
Thus, it is a frequent target for suing. For this reason, they must have malpractice insurance to shield them from large claims.
Depending on the years of experience and the work environment you have, costs can range from $1,500 to $1,500 per year. Although for larger facilities, the insurance cost can be as high as $15,000 per year.
Insurance agent
As strange as they may seem, insurance agents need their malpractice insurance. Mostly, though, they may suffer a claim if they are involved in a claim against the company they work for.
Insurance does not tend to be expensive since these companies have insurance for these situations. But if we mention numbers, they can reach up to $1,000 per year.
Contractors
It is always necessary to analyze the idea that any mistake can happen when carrying out a project. For this reason, to survive any lawsuit, it is required to have insurance. The monthly premium to be paid is $520 per year to protect against any errors during the project.
Brokers
It has become commonplace that when clients dislike the results, they got from working with a broker, they will start blaming the broker and probably sue them. This type of work is very stressful and quite scary.
Because of this, brokers need to be allied with malpractice insurance. For that reason, it is necessary to pay between $300 and $1,000 a year to have it.
Accountants
Clients place all their trust that their finances will be safe and secure in accountants. This makes them an easy target to sue for any errors in the accounts.
Along the same lines, insurance for an accountant costs about $500 per year.
Real Estate Agents
When it comes to the real estate market, a lot of responsibility falls on the shoulders of an agent. When a deal is ruined or lost, the fault will likely lie with the agent.
Their malpractice insurance rates are relatively inexpensive, starting at $55 per year. But they have the potential to increase, depending on the work they do, to up to $665 per year.
Who is most affected by malpractice?
The professions most affected, along with their specialties, are lawyers and doctors. As crazy as it sounds, doctors must pay up to $7500 annually.
In turn, an attorney, depending on their specialty, can spend up to $2500 a year on malpractice insurance. But if you are venturing into the riskier world of lawyers with legally dangerous professions, it can be as much as $10,000 per year.
However, the real number one spot goes to surgeons because their insurance needs to be substantial and comprehensive due to the malpractice risk.
Depending on their specialty, a surgeon must pay premiums from $30000 to $50000 per year. Although it sounds crazy, they are equivalent to the risks of their profession that they live with daily.
What happens if you don’t have malpractice insurance?
Although, by legal standards, many professions must carry malpractice insurance. Depending on the state, it may not be a law to carry it. But really, not having it is a lack of interest in your career and the company you work for.
It is easy to know that you could lose your license considering all the consequences of simply making a mistake and harming a person’s health or losing money.