What insurance do labs really need? In this short article we provide answers to some of the most common insurance related questions.
Today dental lab owners and lab technicians can be sued. But it is never late to give your business insurance a check-up and determine the type of liability insurance you need to have and then to make sure you have it.
The good place to begin with is to check the NADL (National Association of Dental Laboratories) or your state dental laboratory association. If you are a member of NADL than you can talk to their membership service rep and review what kind of coverage you should look for and what questions you should ask, especially if you opt to go with an independent agent that might not be familiar with insurance needs specific to the lab industry. The most important thing is to proceed and make sure you have the coverage you need.
Tough times are over, but even with the bad economy, you don’t have to have a deep pockets to afford the cost of liability insurance. The policy premiums can be as low as $425 a year, which is well worth when a lawsuit comes up.
The most suggested insurance for dental lab is business liability (3-rd party injury and property damage coverage), business personal property (coverage for your tools, equipment, stock and similar property, including property in transit), workers compensation (coverage for employees’ injuries and deceases), commercial auto (if you offer pick-up and delivery services), and last but not least professional liability / errors & omissions insurance.
First, let’s go with what your state may require: to carry workers’ compensation based on the number of employees or size of payrolls. As licensed insurance professionals we can explain your responsibility to your employees in this regard.
If you have financed your building, equipment or may be paying rent for a space in a building insurance requirements are most likely listed in your contract. We recommend to review how your current insurance policy would respond to claims related to tenant’s betterments and improvements.
Whereas, many dental labs buy insurance only to satisfy the requirements and don’t think about other possibilities, let’s review some possible situations that could cause great financial loss or cause the lab to cease operations: theft, fire on your premises or accident at vendor’s, loss of key employees, lawsuit by an employee or customer. Another major exposure is Professional Liability. Many insurance carriers offer an endorsement, with the following coverage explained: The carrier will pay on behalf of the insured dental lab those sums that the lab becomes legally obligated to pay as damages because of “Bodily Injury” or “Property Damage” caused by an “occurrence “arising out of the rendering or failure to render professional services as a “dental laboratory”. Dental lab professional liability insurance is termed “errors and omissions” liability, when liability is confined to acts of negligence. Beware: most insurance policies exclude professional liability coverage. And finally, a new trend and all-increasing exposure of data breach.
Product liability insurance (also called Products/Completed Operations) will provide coverage for injuries and property damages resulting from manufacturing flaws, design defects, defective warnings or instructions.
Myths and believes.
Don’t think that if you have an insurance policy so it must be covered. Give your business insurance a check-up now! Talk to a licensed insurance professional to determine your current coverage needs and demands. Don’t overpay for insurance. Insurance markets respond to changes very quickly: something that was more expensive a few years ago, could have become much more affordable now.
In the end, the best risk management advise we can give to a dental lab is to review their operations and risks and work on implementing and adhering to a safe work environment and a safe product to the market place.