Case Studies
High-End Service: Where Everybody Knows Your Name!
The doctor’s schedule had been extremely hectic and the entire practice was in the throes of keeping up with the related heavy workload. To make matters worse, a key team member was out on maternity leave, so everyone was, as the saying goes, trying to do more with less!
Medical Practice Saved for Long Island Plastic Surgeon
Perron Insurance Services received a distraught call from a Long Island Plastic Surgeon who was in desperate need of assistance with his medical liability insurance. This compassionate surgeon was about to close his successful surgical practice and move his family to Florida because he could no longer afford the exorbitant premiums he was paying in New York for his medical liability insurance. Due to a previous history of claims, his prior medical liability insurance company refused to renew his coverage, forcing him into New York’s high risk pool.
Broker Becomes a Medical Liability Insurance Sleuth
Michelle decided to investigate the prior claims and gained an understanding of the surgeon’s risk profile. She then went to work with the underwriters at J.M. Woodworth Risk Retention Group to provide excellent malpractice coverage at an affordable rate. This allowed the surgeon’s practice to continue in New York and his family was able to remain home on Long Island.
Outcome: A 67% or $200,000 in annual premium savings… and a medical practice that didn’t have to leave the New York market.
Perron Insurance Rescues Physician Practice from a Paid-Claims Malpractice Policy
Perron Insurance Services received a referral from another agent in New York. The agent’s client was a physician who had a Paid-Claims policy and was looking for coverage since his insurance carrier decided to non-renew his policy. The reason for the non-renewal was due to his having an open claim. The issue lies with the trigger date of a Paid-Claims policy. According to IRMI*, with a Paid-Claims policy, the “policy is triggered at the time a claim is paid, rather than at the time a claim is first reported (claims-made policy) or at the time the injury or damage occurs (occurrence policy).”
With Medical Liability Insurance, Paid-Claims Policies Present Obstacles
Since the carrier will only pay out a claim if the policy remains active, the insured must purchase an Extended Reporting Period (aka “Tail Coverage”). An Extended Reporting Period is an extension, which allows the current carrier to continue responding to claims after cancelling the policy. To purchase this coverage, the carrier provided a quotation, which gave the insured only one month to pay for the tail coverage in full. Since the amount of this tail was $88,000, the doctor requested financing to allow him to make payments. Financing for a tail coverage is nearly impossible to obtain because the coverage is considered fully earned (non-cancellable). Because the agent did not have access to any other markets, his only option would have been to place the physician with the state’s high-risk insurance pool for ongoing regular coverage.
With Medical Liability Insurance, Often Times It’s “Who You Know” That Can Make All the Difference
Since Perron Insurance Services has access to several markets in New York and is able to provide coverage options, we were able to find two carriers who were willing to provide ongoing coverage, with one of them offering premium financing for the tail he needed to purchase with his current carrier.
Outcome: An 85% premium savings for the following year’s coverage. In addition, the physician avoided the state high-risk insurance pool, which prevented a significant ongoing financial burden. Readily obtaining financing for the Tail Coverage removed the hassle of applying to various financial institutions for urgent funding.
*IRMI – International Risk Management Institute, Inc. (IRMI)