Insure Your Future

Is Tail Coverage Right For You?

2 April 2020 by Sue Palmer

If you are retiring from your medical practice or changing your insurance, then you should consider tail coverage. Tail coverage is one way to protect yourself from future claims on your prior policy. There are many reasons why you should choose tail coverage, but it's not the only way to protect yourself. Here is more information about what tail coverage does and alternatives to check out.

What Is Tail Coverage?

Tail coverage is coverage for lawsuits under your old claims-made medical malpractice policy. When you drop your medical malpractice insurance and someone files a lawsuit against you later on, then your old policy may not cover you. Even if you get a new policy, you will not be covered for claims that happened before they covered you.

Who Needs Tail Coverage?

Anyone who has either canceled their policy because they are retiring or has switched to a new policy should consider tail coverage. This is especially true if you moved to a new medical practice or out of state. Tail coverage provides coverage for that gap between the old policy and the new one.

How Does Tail Coverage Work?

Tail coverage comes into play when someone files a claim for a problem that happened when you were insured but after your coverage changed. Here is an example. Let's say that you were covered during a certain year. A patient claims that an error happened during that year. However, he or she doesn't file a claim until the next year. Unless you had tail coverage or something similar, you would be personally on the hook for that person's claims.

What Are the Alternatives to Tail Coverage?

While tail coverage is one of the most obvious ways to protect yourself after retirement or between policies, it's not the only way. Your new policy may have what is known as "nose" coverage. Nose coverage acts like tail coverage in that you are covered for some prior acts. Also, if you have had the same medical malpractice insurance for a long time, then that insurance company may cover you with tail insurance for some time.

If you decide to get tail coverage, try to get coverage for at least as long as the statute of limitations in your state. You can often get tail coverage through your previous insurer or as a separate policy. For more information about if you need tail coverage or on medical malpractice insurance in general, contact a medical malpractice insurance agency.

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