First, let’s understand what professional indemnity insurance is – so we can understand what the best professional indemnity insurance for dentists actually is.
Professional Civil Liability Insurance aims to protect the dentist’s reputation and assets in the event of convictions or accusations for professional failures. The insurance covers bodily, moral, and aesthetic damages that are caused by a dental failure. In addition, the insurance also guarantees defense costs so that the doctor can hire lawyers and experts to prove that he has followed all the required procedures.
- Bodily Damage: Physical damage to the patient – such as injuries, sequelae, death, and disability. It may also include medical expenses (treatment, hospitalization, medication) and pension.
- Moral Damages: psychological damages caused to the patient and family by bodily harm or death of a family member. Not all Insurers support this coverage – if it is not accompanied by bodily harm.
- Aesthetic Damage: Marks scars caused by mistake. Not all Insurers support this risk.
Additional Coverages
- Team leader
- Clinical Director
- Extension for Legal Entities
How much does it cost to defend against a lawsuit?
Lawyers charge around 20% of the value of the case to defend the case; that is, in a case of R$ 100,000.00 – the defense costs would be around R$ 20 thousand reais.
This is an important issue to be aware of when contracting insurance, as there are Insurers that have limitations on defense costs, while others do not impose limits and still, some offer legal assistance, that is, the Insurer itself provides lawyers specialized in medical law. For the defense.
In practice, we know that defense costs are high, and these limitations must be considered when choosing the best insurance so as not to have any surprises at the time of the accident.
How much does Professional Liability Insurance for Dentists cost?
The value of the malpractice insurance varies according to the areas of practice/specialties in which the dentist works and the amount insured (which can range from R$100,000 to R$1 million).
Normally, the specialties of Orofacial Harmonization and Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery tend to have higher values than the specialties of Orthodontics, Implantology, and General Dentistry, according to the insurance risk classification.
An interesting way to “dilute” the cost of insurance is to divide the annual insurance value by the number of appointments the dentist makes during the year. For example: if the annual insurance value is R$ 1,500 and the dentist makes an average of 960 consultations per year, this means that each consultation will cost R$ 1.56 to pay for the insurance.
Which spheres are covered?
Some Insurers support only in the civil sphere, while others support all below.
- Civil Sphere
- Administrative Sphere
- Criminal Sphere
Which Insurers work with Dental Liability Insurance?
There are currently several insurance companies operating in this market, including:
- Caruana
- Argo Protector
- Chubb
- excelsior
- Factor
- safe harbor
But what is the best Medical Liability Insurance?
It depends. Because there are many details that must be taken into consideration when hiring, among them:
- Does the dentist work with aesthetic procedures, such as Orofacial Harmonization (HOF)? If so, it is necessary to seek an insurance company that supports the aesthetic risk. And attention aesthetic risk is different from aesthetic damage. Some Insurers cover cosmetic damage caused by a restorative procedure but do not cover a cosmetic procedure.
- Are Defense Cost Limitations Relevant to You? If yes, look for an insurance company that does not have limitations – today, there are some alternatives.
- Do you have positions such as team leader or technical manager? Look for an insurance company that has these additional coverages. In some, it doesn’t even have a cost.
- Will I have coverage in which spheres? Some Insurers cover only the civil sphere, others in the administrative and criminal sphere – which is very important for the dental area.
- Do I need coverage for my legal entity? If the dentist is a member of a clinic, he can extend the coverage to the CNPJ – through some rules in some insurance companies.
Faced with so many questions, it is difficult to say which is the Best Insurer, as there is no unanimity; it varies a lot according to the risk of each specialty. For a dentist who works with Orofacial Harmonization, an insurance company that supports the aesthetic risk is essential, while for a dentist who works only with Orthodontics, this issue is not so important. If the dentist has a clinic, protecting your CNPJ can also be relevant; in other words, there is no easy answer – it is necessary to analyze case by case to seek the insurance that will really support you when you need it.
To hire insurance that really meets your needs, talk to a specialist and hire insurance tailored to you!
