Florida Medical Offices Insurance

Whether your office is a physicians office, dentist, chiropractor, or other type medical facility the property and premises liability insurance is a key ingredient, one to be taken very serious. In some cases the actual building will have to be considered, being owned by the practice or a related entity, but in other cases the permanent improvements need to be consider just as carefully. In the case of a practice that rents their facility, frequently a major investment is made in the interior layout of specialty rooms, cabinets, and desk type additions. In all cases the Office Package covering both the property exposures and the premises liability can be a significant expense, while verifying that there are no major coverage gaps can be much more important. In this, the Florida insurance market, property and liability insurance isn’t as simple as it is in most areas of the country. Florida has what would be considered as an elevated risk for catastrophic exposures like windstorm and hurricanes, flood, sinkholes, and fraud. All of these things complicate the proper placement of the insurance and need to be considered.

When we look at building coverage, in those cases where the building is owned by the practice, or related legal entity, it is important to properly match the amount of coverage to the replacement cost of the structure. If the building is new construction cost will be available from the contractor, which is usually the case with building constructed in the past several years. As the building gets older we can assist the owner by calculating the replacement cost of the structure using custom industry figures, localized to our community. Another issue to consider is a times the building owned by the practice has additional space that is held for rental purposed. This adds an additional factor that has to be considered. Finally, the proper policy form needs to be written, at a competitive price for the customer is always essential.

A look at Business Personal Property, referred to as contents, is a requirement of all medical businesses. Usually written on an “all risk” basis the normal contents, furniture and fixtures, as well as supplies and specialized medical equipment must be accounted for. In most cases the coverage is written on a “Replacement Cost” basis, so current pricing always needs to be considered. Along with the normal Business Personal Property, as mentioned before, when a practice is a tenant in a facility, then the cost of customized alterations, called “Improvements and Betterment’s, needs to be taken in to consideration and the appropriate limit of coverage included. In the event of a loss, fire or otherwise, the replacement of those items would fall on the responsibility of the practice.

Flood coverage is another area that must be considered in every insurance program, if you own the facility or are a tenant. It must be remembered that the vast majority of flood claims occur in low risk flood zones. A practice doesn’t need to be on or near the water to suffer a major flood loss.

The other major component to the Medical Practice coverage package is the liability coverage. Usually written on a “comprehensive general liability” form it includes the premises liability for patience and guests that may have a bodily injury or property damage claim. Coverage usually includes automatic medical payments which provides immediate coverage for injury without the requirement to prove negligence.

Normally the office staff needs coverage for Workers Compensation which we can provide, but we can also help the practice with payroll services or employee leasing. Most insurance is even in a position to review requirements that could come in to play under Obamacare. All the liability exposures along with the “employers liability” component of the workers compensation needs to be protected by an umbrella policy, which can also include any practice owned vehicles. Along with the “normal” employee coverage of workers compensation, and employee dishonesty, the new, and essential coverage that must be considered is the EPLI, Employee Liability. EPLI provides coverage for the exploding employee claims against the practice for exposures like, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and pay related claims.

Most Insurance has the capability, experience, and desire to help their clients navigate the insurance process. Helping the practice purchase the correct amount and type of insurance with the appropriate carrier. We have the correct carrier for most all types of Medical Practices, and the patience to work with the customer to insure they get the best value for their insurance dollar. Let Most Insurance with 40 plus years of experience, and a great, experienced, commercial crew be part of your team to customize your insurance program and maximize your insurance dollar. Call us today at 813 739-8111!