Frequently Asked Questions

MALPRACTICE LIABILITY INSURANCE (PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY)

What is Malpractice Liability Insurance?

Different professions refer to Malpractice Liability Insurance in different ways. For physicians and other medical professionals, it's referred to as Medical Malpractice. For attorneys, CPAs, and engineers, it's referred to as Professional Liability. Other occupations may refer to it as Errors and Omissions coverage.

While the name may differ across professions, the purpose of the coverage is the same. Certain Malpractice Liability policies may be targeted towards specific professions, and coverage varies by carrier. That's why we've tailored our underwriting guidelines to your needs as a behavioral or allied health professional.

Why do I need Malpractice Liability Insurance?

Malpractice Liability Insurance helps protect you if you are sued for malpractice. As a behavioral or allied health professional, you need protection from legal action brought against you due to negligent acts, errors, and omissions on the job—or from frivolous lawsuits that may surface years later.

Without coverage, you could spend precious time and resources defending yourself, regardless of whether there is any merit to the claim. Malpractice Liability Insurance helps provide you with experienced legal defense and coverage for settlements or damages.

Is the Malpractice Liability policy guaranteed issue?

All applicants must go through underwriting review during the application process. However, our underwriting guidelines have been tailored to the needs of behavioral and allied health professionals.

Which professions does Malpractice Liability Insurance cover?

This insurance can cover a wide variety of professionals, including counselor, trainer, and therapist.

Here is the full list of professions eligible for our Malpractice Liability Insurance:

Body Work

Exercise Physiologist
Hellerworker
Kinesio Therapist
Kinesiologist
Massage Therapist
Massage Therapy Student
Occupational Therapist
Rolfer
Structural Body Worker

Counselor

Behavioral Analysis Student
Behavioral Consultant
Behavioral Specialist
Behavioral Technician
Behavioral Therapist
Board Certified Assistant Behavioral Analyst (BCaBA)
Board Certified Behavioral Analyst (BCBA)
Certified Case Manager
Certified Rehabilitation Professional
Counseling Professional
Licensed Assistant Behavioral Analyst
Licensed Behavioral Analyst
Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC)
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC)
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
Licensed/Certified School Counselor
Life Coach
Mental Health Services Professional
Mental Health Student
Professional Clinical Counselor Intern
Provisional Licensed Professional Counselor
Rehabilitation Therapist
Substance Abuse Counseling

Fitness

Aerobics Instructor
Athletic Trainer
Fitness Professional
Group Fitness Instructor
Personal Training (Health & Fitness)
Pilates Instructor
Yoga Instructor
Yoga Therapist

Healthcare

Audiologist
Health and Wellness Counselor
Health and Wellness Educator
Health Professions Student
Nutrition and Diet Professional
Optician
Speech Therapist
Sports Medicine Instructor
Sports Medicine Therapist

Psychology

Psychologist
Psychology Professional

Recreational Therapy

Art Therapist
Dance Therapist
Music Therapist
Recreational Therapist

Is the Malpractice Liability policy guaranteed issue?

All applicants must go through underwriting review during the application process. However, our underwriting guidelines have been tailored to the needs of behavioral and allied health professionals.

What are the Malpractice Liability policy limits?

Our policy has four sets of limits of liability to choose from:

$1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 per policy period
$1,000,000 per occurrence and $5,000,000 per policy period
$2,000,000 per occurrence and $4,000,000 per policy period
$3,000,000 per occurrence and $5,000,000 per policy period*

*This option is available only for Virginia residents (Individual policy) and businesses based in Virginia (Group policy).

Why should I consider your Malpractice Liability policy?

Our policy includes four sets of limits of liability to choose from, plus these additional benefits:

$35,000 Licensing Board Defense Coverage
$35,000 Wage Loss and Expense Coverage per policy period/$1,000 per day
$25,000 Sexual Misconduct Coverage with defense costs covered in addition to the limit
$15,000 First Party Assault Coverage
$15,000 Emergency First Aid Coverage

GENERAL LIABILITY INSURANCE

Why do I need General Liability Insurance?

General Liability Insurance helps protect your business or practice from physical risks, such as property damage or a client slipping and falling on your property. Landlords typically require General Liability Insurance.

Is the General Liability policy guaranteed issue?

Yes, as long as you belong to one of the occupations listed in our application process. We only ask a few basic informational questions to calculate the premium based on your needs, and then to enroll you.

Do I need General Liability Insurance if I have Malpractice Liability Insurance?

Yes! Malpractice (Professional) Liability and General Liability Insurance both cover different risks. Having one without the other will leave you with gaps in coverage that could expose you.

Why should I consider your General Liability policy?

Most General Liability policies fail to offer fire liability over $50,000 per incident. Our policy includes fire coverage up to $1,000,000 per occurrence and up to $3,000,000 per policy year. Virtually all other carriers stop at one occurrence per year and limit the fire coverage to $50,000.

Most insurance carriers also limit General Liability coverage to the actual client sessions and the client, not to client aides and companions, or locations on the premises beyond the immediate treatment center. Our policy has no such exclusions, which means more protection for you.

What does your General Liability policy cover and what are the limits of liability?

Our policy includes a $1,000,000 sub-limit per occurrence and $3,000,000 limit per policy year. The perils include Property Damage, Bodily Injury, Personal Injury, Advertising Injury, and Fire Legal Liability.

CYBER LIABILITY CHOICE SELECT INSURANCE

What is Cyber Liability Choice Select and why should I consider it?

Cyber Liability Choice Select is a multiple indemnity and expense policy that insures you against third-party information breaches, including all digital and paper records. This policy will help cover the legal defense, patient notification fines, and penalties that accompany an information breach. Without coverage, your practice or business could face bankruptcy if a breach occurs.

Is the Cyber Liability Choice Select policy guaranteed issue?

What is an information records breach?

This is an unauthorized disclosure of information to any party outside of the behavioral or allied health professional-client relationship.

What is a third-party?

A third-party is a mover of your records, a data storage facility, a client information storage company, or any vendor who handles your client record information whether online, digitally, or with paper files.

What is a first-party?

A first-party would be you and/or an employee in your practice or business who handles your records, whether digitally or in paper format.

What cyber laws and patient record breach laws impact me?

Your state has a variety of laws and licensing board breach notification requirements that may require a lawyer to represent you, plus fines and penalties that you must pay.

The HIPAA High Tech Law CFR Part 160 is especially significant to healthcare professionals and requires appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of personal health information. The law stipulates expensive notification requirements to all clients, even if only one client record is breached. Healthcare professionals are also required to undergo security audits and purchase identity theft subscriptions for the victims.

GENERAL FAQ

Are your insurance policy contracts overly complicated?

No. Our policies are written in straightforward, understandable language with all coverages clearly stated. You will not find foggy insurance jargon, confusing cross-references, or buried exclusions. With our policies, what you see is what you get.

What's the difference between claims-made and occurrence insurance policies?

A claims-made policy will only cover you for incidents that occur and are filed during the policy period. With a claims-made policy, you will have to purchase an extended reporting period (ERP) or "tail coverage" to cover incidents that occur after your policy has expired.

An occurrence policy covers you for incidents that occur during your policy period, regardless of when you file the claim. Occurrence policies are often more expensive than claims-made policies. This is because they can offer long-term coverage for claims that surface after your policy has expired, as long as the incident occurred during your policy period.

Who stands behind your insurance policies?

Preferra Risk Retention Group (RRG) is backed by the leading worldwide reinsurer, SwissRe. The captive insurance carrier Preferra Insurance Company (Preferra IC) also reinsures the RRG’s insurance products. Preferra IC carries a stellar national rating of A- "Excellent" from the credit rating agency, AM Best.

What if I need to make changes to my insurance policy?

Email us at malpracticecustomerservice@pearlinsurance.com or call us at (844) 282-2449 . Our licensed insurance agents are happy to help you.

What if I have a claim?

If you need to file a claim, visit our Report a Claim page to get started. Once we have the necessary information, we will conduct a detailed claims intake and immediately start the claims adjudication process for you.

Can I select my own lawyer to defend me?

Yes, but you are responsible for the costs if the lawyer is not in our network. If you choose legal defense from our network of over 350 lawyers across all 50 states, then we cover the legal costs.

Are there any deductibles in your insurance policies?

No, you will never have to worry about them because RRG law prohibits deductibles.

Is the RRG a Mutual Insurance company?

All Preferra RRG policyholders are members of a mutual insurance company and therefore their policy is evidence of their mutual ownership interest in Preferra Risk Retention Group, a mutual insurance company.