Social worker insurance

What Type of Social Worker Insurance Do I Need?

What Type of Policy Do I Need for My Social Work Practice?

If you own a private practice, you’ll want to consider getting business insurance. But the type of policy you need may vary depending on where you live and if you have employees.

Here are three types of plans that can be bundled together to form robust social worker insurance coverage:

Professional Liability Insurance

As a social worker, you help people map out better futures. You offer counseling and assistance to get them back on their feet, and support them through difficult times. But what if someone accuses you of giving bad advice, or worse, damaging their lives?

Even if you did nothing wrong, you may need professional liability insurance (PL) to protect you. This type of policy can potentially cover you and your business if a client sues you for negligence in your work. If you have employees working for you, your PL insurance can also cover them.

Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re working with a troubled teenager. His parents are worried that he won’t get into college if he keeps getting into trouble at school. Despite your best efforts, this teen gets expelled from school. His parents unfairly blame you, saying your services were not up to par. Then they sue you for damages and ask for a refund for your work.

If you have professional liability coverage, your policy can help cover the cost of hiring a lawyer, as well as any related claims up to your policy’s limit. Fortunately, this means you’re less likely to dip into your own pocket to cover costs. PL insurance can help protect you and your business financially, so it’s important to get a policy to protect your business, even in those cases where you may not have done anything wrong.

To review, you can expect professional liability coverage for social workers to cover:

• Negligence or alleged negligence
• Legal defense costs
• Omissions or alleged omissions
• Claims and damages
• And more

However, a PL policy usually doesn’t cover:

• Intentional acts and omissions
• Property damage
• Medical expenses
• Bodily injury
• And more

Commercial General Liability Insurance

Where do you work with clients? If you rent or own office space, or if you work out of your home, you’ll likely need commercial general liability insurance. This policy, also known as GL coverage, is designed to cover costs due to third-party accidents, damage to property, and bodily injury to a third party (like one of your clients).

Your line of work may require that you meet with people in person—often in a dedicated space or at a client’s home. This makes it even more important for you to get a liability policy. In fact, for social workers, it can be considered a foundational policy. That’s because it may be able to protect you from some very expensive claims, like customer injury or damage (the average claim is $30,000!).

Without a GL policy, you may have to pay these costs on your own. For most social workers with private practices, these costs could put their businesses at risk.

Let’s walk through an example. Imagine you’re on a home visit and accidentally knock over an expensive vase. This vase is a family heirloom valued at $3,000. Despite it being an accident, your client gets angry and sues you for the damage. Without a GL policy, you could be responsible for covering the cost of the vase and any legal expenses.

Fortunately, if you have general liability insurance, your plan can help cover:

• Bodily injury to another person
• Third-party property damage
• Personal and advertising injury
• Medical expenses
• And more

However, most GL policies don’t cover:

• Damage to your own property
• Professional services
• Workers compensation or injury to your employees
• Damage to your work
• Automobiles while in business use
• Expected or intentional injury or damage
• And more

Workers Compensation Insurance

Many social workers employ people to help them run their private practices. If you have full-time or part-time employees, you may be required to have workers compensation insurance. This type of policy can help cover costs resulting from an employee’s injury or illness while on the job.

Not all states require business owners to carry workers compensation coverage. It’s important to check your state’s laws first.

That said, carrying workers compensation is a good idea if you have employees, whether it’s required in your state or not. That’s because work injury costs can really add up. In fact, it’s estimated that the average work injury cost is $41,000!

If you have someone else working with you, take a look at workers compensation policies. In general, they may help cover:

• Medical Payments
• Lost Wages
• Rehabilitation Expenses
• Death Benefits

Why Should I Get a Policy for My Practice?

Perhaps you’ve thought about getting a business policy before, but you’re hesitant to pay the costs. Or maybe you’re just starting your practice and want to keep expenses down until you grow.

Here’s the reality. You meet with clients regularly, often in their homes, and give them important advice. At any time, one of your clients could sue you for negligence or you could get involved in an accident. The truth is, in your profession, business insurance is too important to not carry.

Even if you do your best to limit risk, you’re never fully protected without a policy. Anything can happen at any time, and it can be very costly. Take a look at the most common incidents small business owners face, and how much they cost on average:

• Reputational Harm — $50,000
• Client Injury or Damage — $30,000
• Client Slip and Fall — $20,000

Can you imagine paying for these incidents on your own?

If you have liability coverage, you won’t have to worry as much, as your policy can help cover some or all of the costs of a claim or lawsuit up to your policy limits.

If you think a lawsuit could never happen to you, think again. A shocking 43% of small business owners say they’ve been threatened or involved in a civil lawsuit. Someone could sue you, claiming that your counseling caused damage or that you were negligent. Even if you did nothing wrong, you still will want coverage to defend yourself.

As a social worker and small business owner, you deserve financial protection. Don’t leave yourself at risk. At Simply Business, we can help by making it simple to find affordable LCSW liability insurance.

All you have to do is answer a few questions online about your practice. Then we’ll help you compare free quotes from top carriers. We can also give you a certificate of insurance (COI) to share with clients and vendors.

At Simply Business, we’re her