Alcohol & Drug Rehabilitation facilities provide medical assistance and behavioral and nutritional counseling to individuals who are in need of substance abuse services.
Eligible risks may include Outpatient Alcohol & Drug Counseling, Rehabilitation Centers, Halfway Houses Inpatient, Methadone, Early Release Prisoner Programs (Alcohol & Drug related offenses only) and Outpatient Detox. Clinics may also be included as an eligible class when the clinic is only a part of the facility’s overall services.
Our program includes a Package, General & Professional Liability, Property, Umbrella, Auto (some restrictions may apply) and Abuse & Molestation. Our pro- gram also offers Coverage Endorsements & Enhancements such as Volunteers & Independent Contractors as Insureds, Optional Key Employee Replacement Endorsement and Optional Extended Coverage Endorsement with Blanket Additional Insured. We also offer Workers Compensation, Accident & Health, D&O and EPLI.
The Humanity Plus Program is a national program written through an Admitted “A” Rated carrier with available coverage in all states except Hawaii and Alaska. For more information, call 877-239-0067.
Risk Control Tips for Frequent Claims
Different types of claims will vary with each social service risk, but there were a few similar types of claims that stood out to underwriters when writing Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Centers.
These claims happen frequently and there are ways to avoid the risk from becoming more serious.
Suicide often occurs at an Addiction Treatment Center. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), research shows that a substance abuse disorder can be a risk factor for suicide. NIMH also explains that usually the substance abuse disorder is associated with other mental disorders.
According to The Canyon, An Exclusive Co-occurring Treatment Program by the Foundations Recovery Network, 25 percent of people who committed suicide had been abusing drugs and/or alcohol at the time and 50 percent of youth that committed suicide had a history using alcohol and drugs.
Since alcohol and drugs have the ability to inhibit the mind and emphasize emotions, it is not uncommon for suicidal thoughts, attempts and occurrences to take place at an addiction treatment center. Treatment centers like The Canyon are aware of this and offer what they call “dual diagnosis” to treat some- one simultaneously for addiction and mental illness.
Fire is also a claim that is seen often by addiction treatment centers since many clients will turn to cigarettes instead of alcohol and drugs. To prevent fires from happening, make sure your insured has a strict policy on cigarette disposal. Try to keep a “smoking section” to a limited outside area away from the building with cigarette-specific disposal containers. Many of our insureds have actually started to enforce a non-smoking environment to eliminate the risk altogether.
Sexual Abuse & Molestation claims arise at addiction treatment centers, specifically when a relationship connection is built between a member of the insured’s staff and a client. To help avoid situations like this, advise your insureds to have a strict no-tolerance policy against fraternizing or socially communicating with clients. Advise your insured to include this policy in their Employee Handbook and reiterate the importance of it during staff meetings.
Insureds should also meet with their employees to discuss the progress of clients and to explain any problems that may be occurring between the client and employee.
Advise your insured to determine accept- able client-and-client behavior as well. There should be written guidelines explaining what is acceptable and this should be posted throughout the building.