What Insurance Should A Care Home Have?
While it’s certainly a rewarding experience, there’s no doubt that running a care home includes a number of responsibilities. These can range from ensuring the well-being of residents to more mundane tasks such as obtaining the right insurance coverage. After all, it’s easy to forget that care homes are much like any business: they face a range of potential risks that can impact both their operations and their financial stability. All of which raises a question: what type of commercial insurance policy is needed to safeguard against the unique risks that care homes face? Our experts are exploring this subject in detail to help you find the best care home insurance coverage.
Employer’s Liability Insurance
As well as prioritising the well-being of their residents, care homes also need to consider the safety of their staff. Employer’s liability insurance is a legal requirement in the UK and is designed to provide coverage in case an employee gets injured or falls ill while performing their duties. This is of particular importance to carers as their roles can frequently involve physical tasks or potentially expose them to health risks. This type of cover is essential for any commercial insurance or care provider’s insurance policy.
Building And Contents Insurance
The physical structure of a care home, along with its contents, can often represent a significant investment. Fortunately, buildings and contents insurance can cover damages caused by fire, flooding, vandalism, and any other unforeseen events. Including this within your care home insurance ensures the care home can be repaired as soon as possible should an unexpected incident occur, minimising disruption for residents and staff including loss of gross revenue for future losses for up to 3 years (minimum).
Medical Malpractice Insurance
Care homes are responsible for providing medical care to their residents, so medical malpractice insurance is essential. This offers protection in the event that a resident suffers harm due to medical negligence or errors, covering any legal expenses or compensation claims that may arise as a result.
Professional Indemnity Insurance
Similar to medical malpractice insurance, professional indemnity insurance focuses on protecting care providers from claims related to professional errors, omissions, or negligence. Professional indemnity insurance is particularly important for care homes that offer specialised services and consultations as it can mitigate the financial impact of legal actions.
Legal Expenses Insurance
Legal issues can arise unexpectedly and dealing with them can often be a financial burden. With this in mind, including legal expenses within a care home insurance policy is highly recommended. Legal expenses insurance can cover the costs of legal advice and representation in case the care home needs to defend against disputes, regulatory issues, or other legal challenges.
Public Liability Insurance
Care homes interact with visitors, families of residents, and other third parties on a daily basis. Try as we might to avoid them, this means that accidents are always a possibility. However, carers’ liability insurance can provide coverage in case someone gets injured or their property is damaged while on the care home premises. This is another type of coverage that it’s strongly recommended to include within any commercial insurance policy.
Cyber Insurance
Cyber threats are a real concern for any business, including care homes. Including cyber protection within your care provider’s insurance policy will help protect against data breaches, cyberattacks, and other technology-related risks. As care homes increasingly rely on electronic health records, this can prove invaluable in mitigating the potential financial and reputational damage caused by a cyber incident.
Care Home Insurance From Higos
At Higos, we specialise in providing bespoke care providers’ commercial insurance. We understand the unique risks of running a care home and tailor each of our care home insurance policies on an individual basis to ensure our clients are receiving suitable coverage. If you would like to discuss our insurance for carers further, or if you have any questions, contact our experts and we’ll be happy to help!
Would you like to learn more about our care providers' insurance? Get in touch! Our Chartered Status enables us to work with a wide range of insurers to find you suitable coverage. For care home insurance, it has to be Higos.