Veterinarians are dedicated professionals who specialize in providing care for animals, whether they be house pets, racehorses, or livestock. Even the best vets can make a mistake or be accused of one, even when they haven’t.
If you’re a veterinarian, one lawsuit over a bad treatment outcome can financially devastate your practice and scar your reputation. You need veterinary professional liability insurance to protect you in these situations.
Veterinary professional liability insurance is a type of specialized coverage that protects you, your team, and your clinic from lawsuits that arise from negligence, errors, and omissions in the medical services you provide to animals. It provides an invaluable safety net that offers legal and financial assistance if you’re sued for malpractice.
An independent insurance agent can help you get professional liability insurance for your veterinary practice.
Key Takeaways - Veterinary Professional Liability Insurance
- Veterinary professional liability insurance, or veterinary malpractice insurance, protects veterinarians from claims related to their professional services.
- Veterinary professional liability insurance typically offers coverage for a vet’s legal defense and financial settlements or judgments if he or she is sued for negligence, breach of duty, mistakes, errors, or omissions during the treatment process.
- Other types of business insurance, like general liability insurance, don’t cover claims related to the professional services you provide.
What Is Professional Liability Insurance for Veterinarians?
Professional liability insurance for veterinarians, or veterinary malpractice insurance, protects veterinarians from claims related to their professional services. These claims may include negligence, mistakes, or errors made during treatment.
Veterinarians often work under demanding conditions, treating animals with complex medical issues while also advising emotional and highly stressed pet owners. In any veterinary situation, there’s always a chance that something goes wrong. Veterinary professional liability insurance offers security and peace of mind by helping to mitigate the risks involved with costly lawsuits.
Veterinary professional liability insurance typically offers coverage for a vet’s legal defense and financial settlements or judgments if he or she is sued for negligence, breach of duty, mistakes, errors, or omissions during the treatment process.
Why Veterinarians Need Professional Liability Insurance
Professional liability insurance helps you safeguard your practice, your license, and your reputation. Even when you’ve done nothing wrong, a disgruntled pet owner may decide to sue you, leading to tremendous expenses for court costs, legal fees, and damages.
Veterinary liability insurance can help cover some or most of the costs of these lawsuits. Other types of business liability insurance won’t pay for lawsuits related to mistakes, omissions, poor advice, or negligence during a procedure.
Veterinarians only want the best outcomes for pet owners and their beloved animals. But even the best, most conscientious vet can experience an adverse outcome, a misunderstanding with a client, or even make a mistake.
What Does Veterinary Malpractice Insurance Cover?
Veterinary malpractice insurance only covers specific situations. It does not provide protection for criminal prosecution and other situations not specifically named in the policy. Its primary purpose is to protect a veterinarian against charges of medical negligence.
In general, your veterinary professional liability insurance would cover:
- Negligence: If a pet owner believes that you did not provide adequate care, made a mistaken diagnosis, or missed important symptoms during treatment, you can be sued for negligence.
- Surgical complications: Complications happen all the time in veterinary surgery. It’s not uncommon for a pet owner to seek legal action if a procedure results in a negative outcome.
- Failure to inform: If you fail to inform a pet owner about all the risks of a procedure or medication, a lawsuit might be initiated. Providing “bad” advice for your patients can also lead to a lawsuit.
In these cases, veterinary malpractice insurance covers:
- Legal defense costs: Defending yourself from a lawsuit, even if the claim is unfounded, is expensive. You may have to pay for attorney costs, expert witness testimonies, court costs, and any settlements or judgments that have to be paid to the claimant.
- License defense: You could be investigated by your state licensing board if an animal owner files a formal complaint. Some liability insurance policies help cover the costs of defending your license.
Difference Between General and Professional Liability Insurance
Veterinarians are also business owners. Your business insurance package also includes general liability insurance, but it’s important to understand that your general liability insurance won’t help you if you’re sued for negligence, errors, or omissions in the treatment you provide.
General liability insurance is an essential policy for your business. It offers broad coverage for bodily injury and property damage liability claims against your business.
That means if a customer slips and falls in your lobby or if someone’s property is damaged while on your premises, general liability insurance can pay for medical expenses for the injured party, or for repairing or replacing the damaged property.
While general liability insurance covers a wide range of situations that can occur in any business setting, your veterinary professional liability insurance only applies when claims are made that result from negligence, errors, or omissions in the medical services you provide.
Who Needs Veterinary Professional Liability Insurance?
All veterinarians need veterinary professional liability insurance. That includes small animal practices, livestock and large animal veterinarians, animal hospitals, and more.
What’s more, your practice likely employs multiple people, including veterinary technicians, office staff, and other vets like yourself. Any mistake by a member of your team could lead to a lawsuit. Your veterinary liability insurance should protect the entire practice, not just individual vets.
Key Features and Customization Options for Vet Policies
There are two main types of veterinary malpractice insurance policies: claims-made policies and occurrence policies.
- Claims-made policy: Provides coverage only for claims made during the policy period, regardless of when the underlying incident occurred. This means that the policyholder must have a current policy in place when the claim is made in order for the claim to be covered.
- Occurrence policy: Provides coverage for any claims that arise from an incident that occurred during the policy period, regardless of when the claim is made. This means that as long as the incident occurred during the policy period, the policyholder will be covered even if the claim is made after the policy has expired.
For veterinary malpractice insurance, this could be important if there’s a delay between the incident and the ensuing lawsuit. If your claims-made policy ends during that time, the claim would not be covered.
Claims-made policies can be extended with "tail” coverage or "extended reporting period" coverage. This provides protection for claims that are made after the policy has ended.
Other policy specifics and options depend on your carrier, but might include:
- Consent to settle clause: Requires the insurance company to get the policyholder’s permission before settling a claim
- Hammer clause: Requires the policyholder to pay excess costs if they refuse a good settlement offer
Other optional endorsements may include:
- Coverage for mobile practices
- Coverage for telemedicine services
- Emergency or relief vet coverage
Veterinary malpractice insurance is complicated. It’s important to choose the right carrier with the right coverage options for your practice. To get expert advice and help make the best choice for your needs, contact a local independent insurance agent.
How Much Coverage Do Veterinarians Need?
The amount of veterinary professional liability coverage you need depends on many factors, including your location and the types of animals you treat.
Animals are, by law, considered property, meaning the animal’s owner may only be entitled to the cost of veterinary care and the “fair market value” of the animal. Cats, dogs, and other pets don’t have a particularly high value. But if you treat rare breeds or expensive large animals (e.g., racehorses), an animal may be worth millions.
The worth of the animals you treat is just one of the many factors involved in determining how much malpractice insurance you need. If you make a mistake when treating a highly valuable animal, the financial result of a lawsuit would be much more devastating than if you make a mistake when treating a house cat.
An independent insurance agent can help you assess your financial risks and determine how to adequately cover your assets with veterinary malpractice insurance.
What Are Common Exclusions or Limitations?
Common exclusions and limitations of veterinary malpractice insurance include:
- Malicious, fraudulent, or criminal acts
- Lawsuits settled before your policy’s start date or that are pending at the time your policy starts
- Litigation that benefits a member of a veterinarian’s family
- Regulatory fines
- Losses resulting from non-covered professional activities
- Litigation included in a broader class-action lawsuit
Every policy is different. It’s important to understand what your policy excludes from coverage when you purchase it.
How an Independent Insurance Agent Can Help You Get a Veterinary Professional Liability Insurance Quote
Independent insurance agents are experts in their field. They work with multiple insurance companies, so they can get you numerous quotes for veterinary professional liability insurance.
Your agent will work with you to help you make the right choice, understand your policy, and make changes to your coverage as your veterinary business evolves.
Frequently Asked Questions About Veterinary Professional Liability Insurance
Do all veterinarians need their own professional liability insurance policy, or does the clinic’s policy cover them?
Veterinary clinics typically purchase group malpractice insurance policies that cover the entire team. In these cases, the veterinarians in the practice do not need individual policies.
What is typically included and excluded in veterinary malpractice insurance coverage?
Veterinary malpractice insurance coverage typically pays for your legal defense in a lawsuit, even if the claim is unfounded. This may include attorney costs, expert witness testimonies, court costs, and any settlements or judgments that have to be paid to the claimant.
The policy may also pay for defending your license if a claimant also files a formal complaint.
Common exclusions of veterinary malpractice insurance include:
- Malicious, fraudulent, or criminal acts
- Lawsuits settled before your policy’s start date or that are pending at the time your policy starts
- Litigation that benefits a member of a veterinarian’s family
- Regulatory fines
- Losses resulting from non-covered professional activities
- Litigation included in a broader class-action lawsuit
How much does professional liability insurance for veterinarians cost on average?
The cost of veterinary professional liability Insurance varies based on factors such as:
- The practitioner’s experience
- The location of the practice
- The practitioner’s claims history and coverage limits
- The type of practice
- The number of employees covered
Does professional liability insurance provide coverage for telemedicine or remote consultations?
Coverage for telemedicine or remote consultations is often an optional endorsement that can be added onto a veterinary professional liability insurance policy.
What happens if an incident is discovered after my policy period has expired?
If an incident is discovered after your policy period has expired, your professional liability policy may cover you, depending on the type of policy you have.
If you have a claims-made policy, it provides coverage only for claims made during the policy period, regardless of when the underlying incident occurred. This means that the policyholder must have a current policy in place when the claim is made in order for the claim to be covered.
If you have an occurrence policy, it provides coverage for any claims that arise from an incident that occurred during the policy period, regardless of when the claim is made. This means that as long as the incident occurred during the policy period, the policyholder will be covered even if the claim is made after the policy has expired.