Everything You Need to Know About Insurance for Nurses

How many types of nurse malpractice insurance are there?

There are two types of nurse malpractice insurance: claims-based and occurrence-based:

Claims-based

A claims-based policy will cover the insured if both the occurrence of the incident and the claims made take place within the policy period.

Any incident that occurs within the policy period is covered by the policy only if the claim is made during the policy period. For example, if you have a claims-based policy that is valid from January 1 to December 31, 2021, and a claim is made against you within that time frame, you will be fully covered. But if the incident occurs before December 31 and the claim is reported on January 1, 2022, you will not be covered unless you have renewed your policy.

This type of policy also has claim limits. For example, if the policy gives you four claims, you cannot get a fifth. It doesn’t matter if a claim is dismissed or not seen through to the end. It will be counted as one claim out of four.

Note: Claims-based policies are generally more expensive in the first few years but will start to balance themselves out as the policy matures.

Occurrence-based

An occurrence-based policy provides lifetime coverage for any incident that occurs during the policy period. It will provide protection even if the claim occurs after the policy has expired. For example, if apatient sues you in December of 2022 in reference to an injection that was administered during a policy period that had ended in December 2021, this policy will still cover you.

The original incident needs to have happened within the original time frame of the policy, which is usually two years. If you got your policy on January 1, 2021 and it is valid for two years, a claim made in 2023 for an incident that took place in 2020 will still be covered.

Note: Occurrence-based policies will cost more than claims-based policies. However, they provide better and more rounded coverage.

Discuss with a local insurance agent which option would be best suited for you. As experts in the field, they can assess your situation and recommend the right option.