You can't please everyone. No matter how passionate you are in helping others, and despite your diligence at work, someone at some point will hold you responsible for the outcome of their health. What's worse is some people will go to any lengths to take the matter to court. God forbid that anything like this happens to you, but you want to be prepared just in case, and there's no way you can be without securing the essential insurance cover.
This article takes you through different types of insurance products that you must have to ensure your protection from potentially facing expensive lawsuits.
What is Liability Insurance?
Liability insurance, or professional indemnity insurance, is a kind of insurance coverage that protects the insured individual from costly lawsuits resulting from injuries or damage they may have caused other people, or their property, in the performance of their work. Insurance companies offer this type of coverage to individuals and businesses that provide professional advice or service.
As a naturopath, you see different types of clients every day and develop treatment programs based on each person's specific needs. However, you can never tell when somebody would accuse you of prescribing the wrong homeopathic remedy or providing nutrition advice that only aggravated their condition. Having indemnity insurance will give you peace of mind, knowing that the cost of the claim that someone may potentially make against you will be covered for by your insurer.
What Other Types of Insurance Coverage Do Naturopaths Need?
Three other types of insurance products can be bundled with your professional indemnity insurance for your personal protection as well as your private practice, namely:
1. Public liability insurance
This type of insurance covers legal claims that may be charged against you for negligence, resulting in the injury or death of a client or damage to their property.
2. Product liability
Whether you manufacture your own naturopathic remedies or distribute products from different sources, you will be held liable if these cause injury to the people whom you sold it to. Securing a product liability insurance will protect you from dire financial consequences should any of your products cause death or injury to anybody.
3. General property insurance
Protect the tools of your trade such as herbal dispensers, laptops, mobile phones and massage tables, among others, with this type of insurance coverage. It covers costs for damage to your business equipment resulting from theft or natural disasters like typhoon, flood and fire.
Don't scrimp on insurance coverage as it's the only weapon that you have against false claims should you potentially experience it. If you find it too expensive, you'll be happy to know that your membership with a national peak body for naturopaths will gain you access to an insurance cover at a discounted rate.
Originally published on Dec 04, 2020
