Professional Liability

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Professional Liability Insurance for Hygienists
and Assistants

Dental hygienists and assistants sometimes need or want to carry professional liability coverage, also known as malpractice insurance.

Coverage may be a consideration if you work in multiple offices, work in a temporary capacity in different offices, volunteer at health clinics, nursing homes or schools where coverage is not provided or may be inadequate, or if you wish to control your policy, coverages and limits.

Some benefits of carrying your own professional liability insurance include having your own, separate limit of coverage available to respond to claims against you, ensuring adequate limits exist to cover your risks, and protecting your personal finances and assets.

MDA Insurance is not affiliated with carriers offering professional liability insurance to dental hygienists or assistants. Many outside options are available, however, and several are listed below.  We encourage you to explore these, as well as any others, and select the plan which best suits your needs:

Medical Protective (available through CM&F Group)

Liberty Mutual (available through Mercer)

CNA (available through HPSO/Aon)

 

Claims-made vs. Occurrence coverage

Occurrence policy forms provide coverage for an injury or damage that takes place during the policy period, regardless of when the claim is made and reported.  Provided the incident takes place while the policy is active, claims may be submitted to the insurance carrier at any time in the future.  The limits of insurance in force at the time of the incident will apply.

Claims-made policy forms provide coverage for an injury or damage that takes place during the policy period, provided the claim is made and reported while the policy is active.  Coverage is not automatically available for claims submitted after the claims-made policy is cancelled or no longer in-force.  Because of this, claims-made policies offer a special endorsement when cancelled, commonly called tail coverage, which allows claims made after cancellation to be considered for coverage.  The limits of insurance at the time the claim is made and reported will apply.

The other major difference is pricing.  Occurrence policies are more expensive in the early years of coverage, but do not require purchasing tail coverage upon cancellation.  Claims-made policies are less expensive up front, but may require the purchase of tail coverage when the policy is cancelled (although many carriers offer provisions whereby tail coverage can be obtained at no cost).

Call us for more details or assistance in determining which form of coverage would better fit your needs.  Our toll-free number is 800.860.2272.