Home healthcare service insurance – cost and coverage

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, Home healthcare service insurance must be high on the list because you can’t always know exactly what can happen in the future.

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With the protection provided by liability insurance and all the other kinds 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 Home healthcare service enterprise, you must consider how much financial liability you are taking on.

If your Home healthcare service 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 upshots of their actions. 

Home healthcare service Insurance

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

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your Home healthcare service business?

What this means, for any Home healthcare service business owner, is that if some company claims that your actions caused them some physical or economic damage, a court can award damages far beyond the total size of your business.

Your Home healthcare service business is not harbored by laws in the same way as states are, where laws can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like Texas, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount a judge can award in any case against the state.

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

When you are running your Home healthcare service operations, you can’t escape responsibility for the results of your actions.

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

What does Home healthcare service insurance protect you from?

For your Home healthcare service business, the most important sorts of insurance are intended to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

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

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

The main types of insurance for your Home healthcare service businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any Home healthcare service business is dealing directly with members of the public, and that means you always have the danger that some accident can happen to them bodily or else something of theirs can be damaged.

In such a case, they can require compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your Home healthcare service business covers you against claims coming from injury to visitors or damage to their property.

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

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

The normal level of general liability insurance for your Home healthcare service 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 Home healthcare service insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your Home healthcare service business

In the event where a buyer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your Home healthcare service business for them, you can quickly be involved in a court case.

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

Most small Home healthcare service business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover an individual claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of Home healthcare service insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your Home healthcare service operations.

Product liability insurance

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

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

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

To cover yourself against any likely lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for Home healthcare service

Only you can determine exactly how much insurance you must have.

Best advice is to consult with experienced insurance agents, brokers or company representatives for help.

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your Home healthcare service business

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

The right 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 van 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 covered if your car is involved in a crash.

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

The necessary value of the insurance is calculated on the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your declared level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your Home healthcare service business needs unique and costly equipment, you will realize how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The tools may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unforeseen acts.

Also, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can destroy 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 everything needed to keep your Home healthcare service business running.

It is impossible to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s basically dependent on how much you have invested in your Home healthcare service business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any Home healthcare service business that owns or rents space in a building needs a commercial property insurance policy.

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

Your physical building location must 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 Home healthcare service business deals in areas of high risk, like Texas or South Carolina, additional coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

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

Because the level of cover depends completely 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 Home healthcare service insurance section below to give some idea of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your Home healthcare service business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your Home healthcare service business

Is your Home healthcare service business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business fluctuating?

Using short-term insurance makes perfect sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for Home healthcare service – are special policies where you can cover a designated period when you want to be covered.

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

The key 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 better 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 Home healthcare service business

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

A BOP combines commercial property and public liability insurance by incorporating 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 frequently the right choice for small and medium-sized Home healthcare service businesses, such as yours.

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

BOPs cannot cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle cover.

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

The usual business that is allowed to take a BOP policy must have less than one hundred employees, and maximum five million dollars in annual sales.

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

Workers Compensation insurance for your Home healthcare service business employees

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

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

The benefits cover 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 may not get your workers compensation obligations from private insurance providers.

Workers compensation premiums are worked out 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 Home healthcare service insurance level is unique, there are enough examples of standard quotes from insurance companies for us to give rough guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

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

The list below is of annual premiums we have collected for the main types of insurance your Home healthcare service businesses needs.

Types of insurance Price range
Public liability insurance $317 – $627
General liability insurance $615 – $1256
Product liability insurance $322 – $872
Commercial vehicle insurance $1796 – $3161
Equipment insurance $486 – $1180
Commercial insurance $1162 – $2301

Cost of insurance for your Home healthcare service operations depends on many different factors.

We have calculated these figures for small self-employed Home healthcare service businesses.

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

The location and size and type of your Home healthcare service 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.

As well you can let the internet do the work for you by searching 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 Home healthcare service operations?

This is an umbrella term used to describe standard insurance policies designed to protect Home healthcare service business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my Home healthcare service business have to have insurance?

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

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

What does a small Home healthcare service 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 precise cover will vary based on your own operations.

See the table in the costing section above for average prices of the best policies for Home healthcare service insurance.

How much will Home healthcare service business insurance cost?

In addition to the size of the business, certain other factors, such as location and claims history, are used to determine your policy’s cost.

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

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