Understanding what abuse insurance can do for your home health agency, assisted living facility, or nursing home.
Any organization that provides care or services for vulnerable populations is at risk for claims of abuse. This risk is particularly worrying for businesses that are dedicated to caring for the sick, disabled, and elderly. While you can take precautionary measures to reduce your risk for an abuse claim, having the right insurance protection is also an important part of safeguarding your business. Here’s what abuse insurance can do for your home health agency, assisted living facility, or nursing home.
- Understanding Your Risks
First, it’s important to understand that abuse can take many forms. While it can be physical, emotional, or sexual, it can also be financial. Because home healthcare agencies, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes are charged with caring for vulnerable populations, allegations of abuse are especially harmful. Not only do abuse claims cause financial damage through legal fees and settlement costs, but it also causes reputational harm that many businesses never recover from.
- Insurance Gaps
While you may assume that your existing liability coverage offers protection against abuse claims, this simply isn’t the case. Most policies include language that specifically excludes coverage for bodily injury and property damage arising from claims of abuse or molestation.
- Abuse Insurance
To fill this coverage gap, insurance providers now offer policies that are specifically designed to cover claims of abuse. Abuse coverage can typically be secured as its own standalone policy or added to an existing commercial liability policy as an endorsement. Typically, abuse insurance covers claims of actual or threatened abuse, molestation, and sexual harassment. This insurance will cover the costs related to damages, judgments, settlements, statutory attorney fees, and legal defense.
This is what abuse insurance can do for your home health agency, assisted living facility, or nursing home. Curious to learn more about your commercial coverage options? If so, then contact the experts at CIA Insurance and Risk Management for assistance today.
Post written by Sophia Najjar, Vice President | Commercial Risk Management (CRM)
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