While individual carriers of medical professional liability insurance (aka, MPL) have unique underwriting policies, many of the factors used are common across the industry.
With personal liability insurance such as auto or home policies, there are multiple factors that determine your premium. For consumer policies, the premium is influenced mostly by personal factors like your age, where you live, and your claims history. Premiums for MPL policies, however, are mostly influenced by professional factors directly related to how and where you will practice medicine, though personal factors like those in consumer policies are still included.
Policy factors for MPL also vary based on whether it is a group policy that covers multiple insureds on one policy in a medical group vs. an individual policy that insures only the policyholder. For simplicity, the lists below assume an individual policy, though many of the factors will also impact individual insureds on a group policy. Factors available may also vary by state.
Individual Risk Factors
Individual risk factors that impact your MPL premium focus on you and your practice. Some of those factors are:
- Education, training, and certification
- Specialty and sub-specialty
- Claims history (frequency and severity of past claims and their outcomes)
- Practice location (state, county)
- Practice setting and associates (private practice, employed physicians, etc.)
- Time in practice
Policy Factors
Policy factors that impact your MPL premium focus on the choices available to you. The first choice is the type of policy—claims-made vs. occurrence—which can determine the policy provisions that may be available to. Some policy options include:
- Policy limits
- Consent to settle
- Deductible options
- Tail coverage and nose coverage*
In addition to the factors above, carriers often offer discounts to encourage applicants to tailor their coverage. Some common discounts include claims-free, new-to-practice, and working part-time. Some carriers also provide discounts for participation in risk management programs, which are designed to help healthcare professionals and practices promote patient safety, minimize risk, and improve defensibility of claims.
*applicable only on claims made policies