Many people regard their pets as part of the family, and we're sure you do too. Like any other medical facility or business, there are risks involved in running a veterinary practice. You never know when an animal may get injured or lost under your care. In other situations, data breaches can result in the loss of sensitive customer information, and you end up incurring costs of complying with notification requirements to the affected clients. Having veterinary insurance protects you against the financial implications of these risks and many more.
Vet liability insurance covers animal care professionals who work as veterinarians. This insurance protects you if a pet owner files a claim because you caused personal injuries or property damage or committed negligence or malpractice and caused further harm to their pets.
Veterinarians should understand that their clients might sue them at some point because of medical negligence. Also referred to as veterinary malpractice insurance or indemnity insurance, this protects you from claims due to any form of malpractice that harms your furry patients. You might incur high costs during the court process and settlement fees and malpractice insurance will pay on your behalf.
Veterinary indemnity insurance covers most of the costs related to such claims. It would be best to pay the manageable monthly insurance premiums instead of paying huge sums of money when a court passes judgment against your business. Only vet indemnity insurance covers negligence claims. General liability and other insurance policies can't cover professional malpractice.
Many medical professionals provide care to pets. Insurers offer vet insurance to a wide range of vets, including:
Animal healthcare facilities
Veterinarians for pet
Livestock veterinary services
Animal specialty veterinarians
Veterinarian acupuncturist
Veterinary treatments/therapies
Veterinarian neurologist
Veterinary disease testing services
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As a veterinarian, you need to have some basic insurance coverage. One of them is Business Owner's Policy (BOP), which protects you from the risks you might face during your daily activities. A BOP provides three types of policies. They include:
General liability policy
Commercial property insurance
Business income insurance
General liability insurance covers injuries or property damage you caused to third parties. Here are some examples:
Suppose you asked someone to deliver a pizza to your clinic and you forgot to close the cage of a dog who was grumpy as it was sick. When the delivery man entered your business, the dog charged at him. The delivery man then filed a claim so that he could get paid for his injuries
There's animal urine on the floor. You were about to clean it when a client came in. The client then stepped on the urine and slipped. She fell on the floor and sustained minor injuries on her hips. The phone she was holding got damaged. You were then demanded to pay for her injuries as well as the damaged phone
How much money can you get from general liability insurance? General liability insurance gives you $1 million - $2 million. You can use the insurance money to pay for lawyer fees, other legal costs, and settlements.
Your veterinary clinic can get burned because of a fire. Riot, vandalism, theft, and extreme weather might damage it too. Imagine how much you’ll lose if any of the two situations happen. And so, consider getting commercial property insurance.
Commercial property insurance helps you reconstruct the veterinary clinic if it turns into ashes. This coverage will also pay for repair costs if your clinic only got damaged because of riot, vandalism, theft, and extreme weather. Speaking of extreme weather, know that commercial property doesn’t cover floods.
Basic commercial property insurance doesn’t cover equipment and materials inside your veterinary clinic. And so, consider adding business equipment coverage, and stocks and contents coverage. Business equipment coverage will pay if work tools in your clinic got damaged or lost because of fire, theft, vandalism, extreme weather, and other named perils. On the other hand, stocks and contents coverage reimburses the value of damaged and unusable veterinary goods and materials.
You might need to stop business operations for a while to move to a new location. It’s also possible for you to stop doing business because you got sick or the clinic needs to be renovated.
Temporary business closure isn’t an excuse for you to stop paying bills. And so, consider getting business interruption insurance.
Business interruption insurance will provide money while your veterinary clinic isn’t generating income. The amount you’ll receive will be equal to a portion of or the total value of your business’s projected revenue. You can use the insurance money from business interruption insurance to pay employee wages, electricity and water bills, taxes, loans, rent, and other operational costs.
Disability insurance replaces a portion of your income when an injury or illness causes you to become disabled and incapacitated to continue providing veterinarian services. The insurance covers up to 60% of your monthly income. Depending on your insurance carrier, the amount might be taxable.
When shopping for long-term disability insurance, check your carrier's reputation and policy features. Typically, disability insurance premiums range from 1.5% - to 3% of your gross income. The following three aspects are critical in long-term disability insurance for veterinarians:
Own occupation - You worked hard to obtain your medical credentials. An own occupation pays the benefits though you might be able to earn income working in a different job or sector
Non-cancellable or guaranteed renewable - A non-cancellable policy means your insurer can't cancel your coverage so long as you pay your monthly premiums. Without this feature, your provider can cancel the coverage if something changes. For instance, the company might stop covering certain classes of chronic illnesses, forcing your agent to cancel the policy. A non-cancellable policy ensures you're always protected
Income adjustment/future purchase option - Sometimes, you need to increase your coverage limit to receive proceeds that match salary increases. In that case, a policy with income adjustment guarantees that, but it's worth noting that your monthly premiums will increase as well. This feature is especially critical for young veterinarians who've just completed their internship programs
What we discussed previously are must-have veterinary insurance policies. However, there are other insurance products that, although not very essential, can still help a lot. With that said, if you’re willing to invest more for insurance, consider getting:
Commercial auto insurance
Employment practices liability insurance
Employer’s liability insurance
Workers compensation insurance
Cyber liability insurance
Does your veterinary clinic have its own pet ambulance? If so, consider getting commercial auto insurance. You can’t cover that vehicle using personal car insurance. And even if y ou manage to do so, know that premiums will be very expensive.
Insuring a vehicle used for business purposes is better with commercial auto insurance because it’s cheaper and more comprehensive. The following are the coverages included in commercial auto insurance for vet:
Auto liability
Personal accident insurance
Physical damage coverage
Emergency roadside assistance
It’s common for a pet ambulance to rush. And while driving fast, the driver might get involved in an accident and cause injuries to third parties as well as property damage. Auto liability insurance covers costs if a claim is filed. Particularly, it will cover defense costs and settlements to injured parties
Of course, if a vehicular accident happens, the passengers inside the ambulance might get hurt. Note that auto liability insurance doesn’t cover them. And so, consider getting personal accident insurance. With personal accident insurance, you can pay for the emergency treatment and compensation of injured passengers.
Physical damage coverage comes in two types - collision and comprehensive. Collision physical damage coverage can be claimed if your vet clinic’s pet ambulance got damaged after colliding with another vehicle or object on the road. However, there’s an exception. Physical damage coverage won’t cover damages the pet ambulance incurred after ramming a deer, cow, or any other animal.
The second type - physical damage coverage can be claimed if your clinic’s pet ambulance got damaged because of extreme weather, fire, theft, vandalism, and other named perils. Physical damage coverage pays for the damage caused by colliding with an animal on the road too.
The pet ambulance might experience issues on the road. And so, don’t think twice about getting emergency roadside assistance. By having emergency roadside assistance, there’s an insurance policy that will shoulder the cost of battery jump start, towing, and other types of services needed to get the pet ambulance running once again.
Employment practices liability is a vet business insurance that’s surely helpful if you have assistants or any other employees. Sexual harassment, wrongful termination, and workplace discrimination are problems you’ll face regarding employees. And these are what employment practices liability insurance covers. With this policy, you can pay for attorney fees, other legal costs, and compensation to aggrieved parties.
While helping you treat animals, assistants might be bitten, kicked, and scratched. They might experience musculoskeletal injuries due to repetitive movements. But that’s not all. Animals might also cause zoonotic diseases that, once contracted by humans, will take long to heal.
And so, decide to get workers compensation insurance for your employees. Workers compensation insurance helps you treat injured or sick employees. The policy also shoulders the cost of unemployment allowance, which is equal to two thirds of the employees’ average weekly wage.
Are you required to get workers compensation insurance? If you’re a vet doing business in Texas, then there’s no need to. However, if you’re in another state, workers compensation is required. This insurance is a state-mandated policy. Meaning that failure to get covered by workers compensation will result in fines and penalties.
Injured employees might file a lawsuit accusing you of committing negligence. Lawsuits resulting from the occurrence of workplace accidents fall out of the scope of employment practices liability insurance. Instead, this is the job of employer’s liability insurance. Employer’s liability insurance’s function is the same. It provides money so that you can pay for lawyer fees, other legal costs, and settlements.
Consider getting cyber liability insurance if your veterinary clinic is running a system that collects payments from clients via credit card, bank transfer, or e-wallets. Hackers can breach your system and cyber liability insurance will protect you from the costs.
A data breach will steal sensitive client data such as credit card numbers, phone numbers, addresses, etc. As a result, concerned parties might file a lawsuit. One job of cyber liability insurance is to pay for defense costs and settlements if such a thing happens.
Of course, you’ll have to notify customers about the breach. And so, the second job of cyber liability insurance is to pay for public relations expenses.
Note that cyber liability insurance is just an optional policy. You don’t really need this except your vet clinic has a website or any other similar platform to collect payments and market services.
The average cost of veterinary malpractice insurance is $66.66 per month or $800 a year for a $1 million coverage. Factors that affect veterinary malpractice insurance cost are location, policy limits, deductibles, and claims history.
Animal care professionals incur varied veterinary liability insurance cost because the rates vary based on the coverage limit you choose and the type of animals your practice cares for. But on average, the cost of general liability insurance for veterinarians is $92 a month or $1,104 a year.
Vets caring for small pets have reduced liability than facilities catering to large or exotic animals. The table below offers the estimated rates of other policies included in veterinarian insurance.
| Cost per Month | Cost per Year |
---|---|---|
Commercial Property Insurance | $75 | $900 |
Vet Malpractice Insurance | $66.66 | $800 |
Workers' Compensation | $375 | $4,500 |
Commercial Auto Insurance | $61 | $732 |
Here’s another table providing more idea about the cost of vet insurance by showing the best companies and their pricing:
| Cost per Month | Cost per Year | Best for |
---|---|---|---|
CoverWallet | $89 | $1,068 | Veterinary insurance quotes comparison online |
AVMA | $159 | $1,908 | AVMA members |
Safehold | $162 | $1,944 | Insurance for all kinds of veterinarians |
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As mentioned earlier, it's critical to find an insurance company that provides personalized vet insurance coverage to cover your unique needs. While there are various options of companies you can partner with, CoverWallet is perhaps the best insurance provider for veterinarians. And so, here's a review of the company as well as two others that many recommend
Get covered online
Online certificate of insurance
Cancel a coverage anytime
Stable rates
Get the quotes of different carriers and compare pricing
Vet insurance is underwritten by third-party carriers
You have four coverage options with CoverWallet. If you don’t need a lot of protection, then the company can insure you with general liability insurance only. On the other hand, if you need to get covered against workplace mistakes too, then it’s possible to purchase general liability insurance with malpractice insurance.
Nonetheless, the best protection is through CoverWallet’s pro coverage that bundles commercial property insurance with general liability insurance and professional liability insurance. But if you think that best isn’t enough, you can also decide to get a custom coverage that allows you to choose and get all the available business insurance needed.
Best for: Veterinary insurance quotes comparison online
Average cost: $89
Our rating: 10/10
Provides professional, business, and personal veterinarian-focused coverage
Experienced insurance services (over 60 years)
Coverage available to members only
AVMA understands everything that happens in a veterinarian clinic. Therefore, the association's insurance policies provide the best protection for veterinary risks, from malpractices and disability to liabilities. With AVMA coverage, you can protect your practice, workforce, and the people you love.
AVMA provides two types of coverage policies:
AVMA PLIT
AVMA Life
AVMA PLIT has provided coverage for veterinarians and their practices for more than 60 years. AVMA malpractice insurance and other veterinary insurance policies are combined to satisfy the unique risks each customer faces. The organization offers two insurance options to members through the AVMA Trust, which combines the AVMA PLIT and AVMA Life policies.
AVMA PLIT cost starts at $159. AVMA PLIT provides three types of coverage. They include:
Professional protection – This protection offers AVMA liability insurance, which covers defense expenses and settlements
Business protection – This protection offers AVMA business insurance policies such as employment practices liability, commercial auto coverage, workers' compensation, cyber liability, flood coverage, and mobile vet insurance
Personal coverage – This policy encompasses all personal coverage, such as homeowner's insurance, car insurance, and renter's insurance.
AVMA Life provides veterinarian-inspired protection for members (and their families) at every stage of life. This policy offers wide-ranging coverage policies, including:
Life insurance
Dental and vision coverage
Short- and long-term disability
Long-term care
Hospital indemnity
Basic protection for veterinarians and veterinary doctors, including rabies prophylaxis
The association also provides group benefits for veterinarians to help them remain competitive in attracting and retaining employees. Some of these benefits include:
Practice Healthcare Solutions
Association Retirement Benefits
AVMA Disability Insurance Plan
Small-Group Employee Benefit Plans (supplementary life and disability insurance)
Best for : AVMA members
Average cost : $159
Our rating : 9/10
Provides veterinary business insurance for a wide range of risks
Seasoned vet insurance provider (over 55 years)
Available to all veterinarians
May not offer disability coverage
The Safehold Special Risk Veterinary & Animal Services coverage program protects against virtually all risks involved in the daily veterinarian operations: lost animals, bites, malpractice claims, data breaches, and employee management.
Established in 1965, the program offers insurance for veterinarians across the industry's sub-sectors, including single or national multi-location practices, specialty veterinary clinics, pet groomers, veterinary behaviorists, small and exotic animal practices, pet trainers, etc.
Safehold specialty risk insurance policies cover you for the following risks:
Professional liability
License defenses
Animal bailee
Workers' compensation
Business Auto
Excess liability
Kennel cough coverage
Best for : Insurance for all kinds of veterinarians
Average cost : $162
Our rating : 8/10
Are you looking for cheap insurance policies online? Compare veterinary business insurance quotes by clicking the " Get Quotes " on this page to get the cheapest insurance policies from reputable insurance companies.
Kasey Arey Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
This company gives you a price that was in place for a year and when you have to use it there is fine print were they can go back and charge you more. Would not recommend them to any one. Crooks
Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
Had general liability and workers comp with amguard. Paid high premiums and yet still got audited every year and had to pay more. Was able to prove less risk the first two audits and disputed price down but none the less had to pay more just so I could renew coverage. Third time the audit ( based on what I paid my premium on ) was ridiculous and tried to prove that there was no increase in risk from what I paid for my premium. However they would not believe it and required I paid full audit amount in order to have redline removed. Basically you do what they say and pay whatever outlandish bill they come up with or they will make sure you can’t run your business anymore. ????
Felicia Broadus Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
Avoid these SCAM ARTISTS! They don’t pay claims!!! Save yourself the trouble and money!
Felicia Broadus Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Insurance Companies
They are the worst, my truck was hit in January 23 and the claim adjuster has not been out to this very day! They have every excuse in the book as to why. They have not been to the collision shop. PLEASE AVOID THESE SCAM ARTIST!
Dave Phillips Insuranker
Policy Type: Business Insurance
Company name: CoverWallet Business Insurance
Excellent platform for business insurance quote comparison online