As a Veterinarian, you may understand the importance of protecting your biggest asset – yourself. You’ve gotten your disability insurance squared away, as well as your life and malpractice. But now that you’ve purchased your own practice, there is another insurance that you need: Business Property Insurance. And, as a veterinarian, you’ll need to think about specific endorsements designed to protect you in ways that are unique to veterinary science.
General liability coverage protects you during some of the most common third-party losses, such as reputational harm, bodily injury, or property damage. Business personal property damage protects your physical assets such as the building and medical equipment. Workers Compensation protects your practice from loss if an employee gets hurt on the job. Cyber liability protection is relatively new, and protects you in case of a data breach. (And, you should begin learning how to protect your patient data well).
Within your business property insurance, you’ll have the option of adding in endorsements. An endorsement is a customization of the insurance policy to add, delete, or exclude coverage. In this blog, we’ll cover 6 of the most vital endorsements that veterinarians need on their property insurance.
While you are thinking about it, make life easy for yourself and contact Loyall Group for a quote. We take a personalized route through your insurance needs. If you’d like to discuss how to get a property insurance policy that is specific for you, contact us today.
1. Animal Bailee Coverage
With the amount of animals needing care at a veterinary office surging, veterinarians need to be more protected than ever against losing an animal or additional care needs. Busy waiting rooms where dogs flee, transporting a cat to a bigger animal hospital, or the need to pay for additional boarding due to too few spaces at your clinic are all common situations. This endorsement covers you in the event of uncollected service charges, costs of rewards and advertising, and costs of veterinary care when an animal gets hurt, runs away, or needs additional boarding during your care. Limits for this endorsement include $10,000, $25,000, $50,000, $75,000, and $100,000.
2. Kennel Cough Coverage
Protecting a wave of Kennel Cough through your practice is harder when so many animals are moving through the doors. You’ll have to keep up high levels of disinfecting practices, and if you have to shut your doors so that more animals don’t get infected, you’ll lose income. This endorsement provides coverage for you, up to limits of $5,000, $10,000, $25,000, or $50,000. If you need to suspend your practice, hire a disinfectant, or pay for tests and treatment of Kennel Cough to the animals in your care, you will need this coverage.
Animal Infectious Disease Coverage
Similarly, there is an endorsement for “Canine Influenza” in the limits of $5,000 or $10,000. You’ll have to request this endorsement from underwriting. This endorsement works the same as the Kennel Cough endorsement, but is specific to “Canine Influenza”.
3. Mobile Equipment Breakdown
Especially these days, after COVID-19 changed the way we work, many veterinarians are using mobile equipment to reach their patients. If you have any mobile equipment as a regular part of your business, you’ll need to cover your income and equipment costs if there is a mechanical breakdown. That is what this endorsement is designed for. It will cover up to $5,000 in costs associated with a mechanical breakdown. Part of this covers the equipment itself, and part covers your business income which may be affected by the inability to provide mobile services.
4. Veterinary Professional Liability (With Other Injury)
In a Veterinary practice, you will be faced with many situations which are out of your immediate control. Perhaps an intern is working on an animal with your oversight, or a volunteer steps into the lobby to help with a dog fight. If anyone is hurt during these incidences, you’ll need the Veterinary Professional Liability endorsement to help with the expenses incurred. This endorsement covers bodily injury, advertising injury, and property damage for an occurrence of rendering or failing to render veterinary services.
Veterinary Professional Liability (With Economic Injury)
Additionally, another version of this endorsement adds “Economic Injury”, meaning it will cover the value of the animal which is involved in training or prize income. If you are regularly treating valuable animals, you’ll want to add this endorsement to your policy.
5. Pet Care Errors and Omissions Liability
This protects you against negligence, error, or omission when providing pet care services. These services can include pet grooming, day care, sitting, walking, jogging, funeral, cremation, washing, taxiing, excursions, and more. This specifically covers your property in case of an error during pet care services as opposed to veterinary services, and doesn’t include specialized training of animals or animal valuation.
6. Reimbursement of Expenses for Courts or Veterinary Boards
If you are involved in a disciplinary action with a Veterinary Board or civil court, this endorsement will help pay for costs associated with the event. Levels of protection include $5,000, $25,000, $50,000 and $75,000. Generally, this will pay for attorney fees, court reporter fees, or expert witnesses. There are some exclusions where this endorsement would not apply, including an appeal, loss of wages due to inability to practice, or your own defense of the matter. While it may be a Veterinarian’s worst nightmare to consider a disciplinary action against them, it is always best to be covered for what may be an extremely large expense.
As a veterinarian, you are used to always learning and adjusting your practice to best meet the needs of your patients. And as the pandemic showed veterinarians how to flex even more in their practice, you’ve probably learned to reassess your practice when necessary. It’s a great time to reassess your Property Insurance. Whether you are needing additional coverage to protect against Kennel Cough and your new Mobile Equipment, or you need to evaluate your coverage amounts, you’ll need expert guidance on what the right solution is for you. Contact Loyall Group today to get a free and easy quote. Ask about these special endorsements. We work for you to bring clarity within insurance.