Business
ON Chiropractic
PRO TECTING YOUR BUSIN E SS: Commercial General Liability Insurance
A
patient falls and sustains an injury while exiting your clinic. The patient
chooses to pursue legal action as a result of the incident. Do you have sufficient
insurance in place to protect you, your employees and your business?
What is Commercial General Liability
Insurance?
Commercial General Liability (CGL)
insurance protects your business when it
is found liable in a variety of situations,
including personal injury, bodily injury
or property damage. This is a crucial
investment for many chiropractors to make
in protecting their practices and clinics.
CGL and professional liability protection
are not the same products. The professional
liability protection you are required to have
by the College of Chiropractors of Ontario
does not protect you against commercial
liability.
Who needs CGL Insurance?
All practicing chiropractors would benefit
from the protection and peace of mind
afforded by CGL insurance.
Chiropractors who operate a clinic: Clinics
come with their share of risk and liability.
Clinic owners and operators are strongly
encouraged to have CGL insurance in place
as they may be held responsible for damages
to the landlord’s property or from a bodily
injury to a patient unrelated to treatment.
Chiropractors who practice at home: From
a risk and liability perspective, your home
is treated the same way a clinic would be
treated if you are choosing to practice there.
That means you may be exposed to liability
risk if you do not have CGL insurance in
place. Chiropractors working from home
would need to inform the broker who looks
after their homeowner's policy as this is a
common exclusion. There are home-based
business packages that many insurance
companies offer to accommodate this
situation. On top of that, CGL would still
be required.
What level of CGL Insurance is adequate?
The total amount of coverage your business
requires will be determined in consultation
with your CGL insurance broker or
provider. You will also want to review your
contractual agreements, such as real estate
or equipment leases. Those documents may
include CGL insurance requirements.
CGL insurance generally provides
protection for:
• Bodily Injury & Property Damage:
Protects you from judgements and legal
expenses that hold you or your employees
responsible for bodily injury or property
damage.
• Personal Injury Liability: Protects you
from judgements that hold you or your
employees responsible for damage to the
reputation and character of a third party.
• Advertising Injury Liability: Protects you
from judgements that hold you or your
employees responsible for slander, libel,
copyright infringement, privacy violations
or disparagement of goods contained in
your marketing materials.
• Medical Payments: Sometimes referred to
as “goodwill protection”, this type of coverage enables you to avoid costly lawsuits
by covering the cost of minor medical
expenses that arise from an accident on
your premises.
• Tenant Legal Liability: Protects you in the
event that your landlord seeks compensation for damage done to their property
while it is rented to or occupied by you.
Note that while this provision relates to
your specific occupied space, you may
also be held accountable for damage to
other property that results from incidents
within your office. It is also important to
note that things like interior walls and
other “betterments and improvements”
within your occupied space are your
responsibility.
Selecting a CGL Insurance provider
Selecting a CGL insurance provider involves
three main factors. First, is the insurer
reputable and sufficiently underwritten to
protect you in the event of a major payout?
Second, can the insurer provide adequate
coverage at a price that is affordable to
your business? A useful litmus test is to ask
your prospective broker how AM Best, a
worldwide insurance-rating firm, has rated
their company. Finally, has the insurer had
any complaints about their handling of
CGL loss claims? How were the complaints
resolved?
Dan Bertolin of Broker’s Trust Insurance
contributed to this article. Broker’s Trust
Insurance provides CGL insurance at a special
group rate to OCA members.
www.chiropractic.on.ca
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