Elder Law insurance – cost and coverage

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Elder Law insurance must be near the top of the list because you can’t always know exactly what can happen in the future.

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With the protection provided by insurance against accidents and all the other sorts of insurance we will tell you about, you can protect your business and yourself in case something unforeseen happens.

Like any business owner, for your Elder Law enterprise, you must consider how much financial risk you are taking on.

If your Elder Law business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a tremendous chance not just of losing some money but of a total wipe-out.

This is because the laws in every state are very strict in enforcing liability on the owners of businesses for the consequences of their actions. 

Elder Law Insurance

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for small businesses to outline what the main kinds of insurance that you need are, and where we can, a rough guide to how much you can expect to pay.

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your Elder Law business?

What this means, for any Elder Law business owner, is that if some person claims that your work caused them some physical or economic damage, a court can award damages far beyond the total size of your business.

Your Elder Law business is not protected by laws in the same way as states are, where edicts can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like Montana, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount an adjudicator can award in any case against the state.

In a court case, it’s purely the duty of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a person more than they have sort.

When you are running your Elder Law operations, you can’t deny responsibility for the consequences of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent in advance the money necessary to have your business running as a corporation, all of that liability belongs to you as an individual.

What does Elder Law insurance protect you from?

For your Elder Law business, the most important types of insurance are meant to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

As well there are some legal kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will explain the most important points any Elder Law business owner should consider when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main types of insurance for your Elder Law businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Elder Law business is dealing directly with members of the public, and that means you usually have the danger that some accident can happen to them bodily or else something of theirs can be ruined.

In such a case, they can demand compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Elder Law business covers you against claims coming from injury to clients or damage to their property.

It protects your Elder Law business from the claims themselves and also to any associated court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it can also help you to qualify for extra business from city and state organizations, where contracts require proper liability insurance.

The average level of general liability insurance for your Elder Law business would be with a cap of $1 million for a single submission and a total of $2 million for the whole year.

See the table in the costing section below for average prices of general liability insurance for your Elder Law insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Elder Law business

In the event where a client alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Elder Law business for them, you can quickly have to fight a monetary claim.

Even if the lawsuit against you is ruled in your favor, the cost of defense can be high, and the impact on your reputation can be damaging.

Most small Elder Law business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover a once-off claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of Elder Law insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Elder Law operations.

Product liability insurance

Whatever goods you sell or advice you give about the goods, you are running a risk that customers may claim that what you delivered didn’t meet your description of function, or that your advice was basically incorrect.

You need to know the specific laws of product liability in your own state.

For example, in California, all businesses in the supply chain can be held culpable for injuries caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any following lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Elder Law

Only you can know exactly how much insurance you should get.

Best advice is to contact experienced insurance agents, brokers or company representatives for support.

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Elder Law business

Beware! – most policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any occurrence like theft or accidental damage when the van is being used for business purposes.

The proper way to make sure that your vehicle is insured for both its own value, and the valuable contents, is by taking out a direct commercial vehicle insurance package.

Commercial car policies cover the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

In addition, in case of any accident, the car itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is guaranteed if your van is involved in a crash.

Most states, other than Virginia and New Hampshire, mandate this type of insurance.

The wanted value of the insurance depends on the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your intended level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Elder Law business needs unique and costly equipment, you know how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The equipment may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unexpected acts.

In addition, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can wipe-out your whole business in one stroke.

Unless you can afford to immediately replace such unique gear quickly out of your own pocket, you must have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy any equipment needed to keep your Elder Law business running.

It is difficult to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s basically dependent on how much you have invested in your Elder Law business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Elder Law business that owns or rents space in a building needs a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the property, you certainly have a substantial capital investment, as well as a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Your physical building location should carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against natural occurrences like fire and storms, and against man-made damages like theft and vandalism.

If your Elder Law business operates in areas of high risk, like California or South Carolina, additional coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Rhode Island, where intense cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of Elder Law business premises, there is a need for more supplementary cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas the level of cover depends mainly on the value of the property, it’s not possible to say what cover your need, but we have been able in the table in the cost of Elder Law insurance section below to give some estimate of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Elder Law business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Elder Law business

Is your Elder Law business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business fluctuating?

Using short-term insurance makes excellent sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Elder Law – are special policies where you can cover a nominated period when you want to be covered.

By only paying for that period of cover, you will save by having less premiums but still having the same risk cover.

The important feature of short-term insurance is that you pay for the cover for a defined period – a specific date, or a week or month starting on a specific date, for example for 30 days beginning on the specified date.

When you are expecting periods of higher business activity, get the existing cover raised.

Talk to your insurance agent, broker or the company’s representatives to see what options you have.

Business Owners Policy BOP for your Elder Law business

You have the option to combine a few of the important kinds of small business insurance in one policy that is known as the business owner’s policy – BOP.

A BOP merges commercial property and public liability insurance by amalgamating these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

BOP insurance will protect you if any claims of injury or property damage are made.

It is mostly the right choice for small and medium-sized Elder Law businesses, such as yours.

There are two limits that will dictate whether BOP is suitable for your own business.

BOPs will not cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle risks.

Also, the size of your business will determine whether you are allowed to take out BOP cover.

The usual business that can take out a BOP policy must have no more than one hundred employees, and under five million dollars in annual turnover.

In addition, you must separately take out the required worker’s compensation, health and disability insurance as determined for your state.

Workers Compensation insurance for your Elder Law business employees

In many states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your Elder Law business has one or more employees.

Workers compensation insurance covers the operation against any costs that arise if an employee experiences an injury or becomes sick as a result of work.

The benefits provide for medical expenses, death benefits, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation.

Failure to meet a state’s requirements in this regard can leave you as the employer required to pay penalties levied by the states.

Some states, such as North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming only authorize coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you can’t obtain your workers compensation obligations from private insurance providers.

Workers compensation premiums are computed based on the employee’s pay, and usually come out at around $1.00 per $100 per month.

However, you must consult the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every Elder Law insurance requirement is unique, there are enough examples of standard quotes from insurance companies for us to give appropriate guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

Of course, you should always check with an insurance representative what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have gathered for the main types of insurance your Elder Law businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Product liability insurance $205 – $846
Public liability insurance $364 – $751
General liability insurance $651 – $939
Commercial insurance $851 – $2045
Equipment insurance $425 – $1411
Commercial vehicle insurance $1565 – $2805

Cost of insurance for your Elder Law operations depends on many different factors.

We have reckoned these figures for small freelance Elder Law businesses.

In larger states like New York, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, whereas in smaller states like Oregon, they usually are about 20%-30% lower.

The location and size and type of your Elder Law business can have a big effect on the cost of different policies.

You should discuss with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

In addition you can let the internet do the work for you by looking for insurance companies near where your business is located.

Another good source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your city.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for Elder Law operations?

This is a general term used to describe standard insurance policies designed to protect Elder Law business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my Elder Law business have to have insurance?

Some of the types of insurance are not mandatory for you to operate your business, but they can protect you from risks in your business operations.

Several other forms are required by state law, such as workers compensation and vehicle insurance.

What does a small Elder Law business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides coverage against lawsuits or claims filed by a third-party for bodily injury, property damage, or negligence.

The specific cover will vary based on your own operations.

See the table in the costing section above for average prices of the best policies for Elder Law insurance.

How much will Elder Law business insurance cost?

On top of the size of the business, some other factors, such as location and claims history, are used to determine your policy’s cost.

You should talk to professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

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