If you operate a prosthetic store, you and many of your employees are likely to be certified prosthetists and orthotists who use the latest technologies to evaluate, fit, and assist patients who need prosthetics.
The treatment process might include an initial phase with a training prosthetic, and a final phase with a definitive prosthesis designed for long-term wear.
Prosthetic stores have unique business insurance needs. It’s important that you understand your risks and find prosthetic store insurance that is customized for your needs.
An independent insurance agent can help you find the best coverage for all of your unique risks.
Why Do You Need Prosthetic Store Insurance?
Prosthetic limbs are custom-designed and manufactured to fit each patient’s unique injury and body. Designing and manufacturing a prosthetic is a detailed process with little room for error.
Your goal is to create an effective and functioning artificial limb that fits each patient’s unique body, gait, and measurements. A prosthetic also needs to meet each patient’s unique functional goals, such as daily use, walking, running, and so forth.
Prosthetics can even be custom-designed for certain sports, like skiing or running. And prosthetic arms can be equipped with accessories that enable patienst to eat, play basketball, paint, or perform any number of activities that are important to their daily lives.
With so much at stake, it’s no wonder that your prosthetics store must employ skilled, licensed prosthetists and orthotists who strive for perfection in every prosthetic. But even the most skilled technicians can make mistakes. And all kinds of other unforeseen events can cause serious trouble for your business.
You face numerous risks to your commercial property from things like fire, severe weather, theft, and vandalism. And you can be sued at any time if you are responsible for causing any injuries or property damage to others.
Working closely with an independent insurance agent, you can determine exactly what risks you have and find tailored prosthetic store insurance to address them.
What Does Prosthetic Store Insurance Cover?
You need prosthetic store insurance to cover property damage and liability risks that can be financially devastating. With several customized insurance policies, you can cover:
- The contents of your office and prosthetic design spaces, including expensive equipment, prosthetic materials and inventory, computers and prosthetic design systems, and all other office furniture and equipment
- Sensitive and confidential medical records
- Your building (if owned)
- Your employees
- Your patients and members of the general public
What Insurance Policies Do You Need for Your Prosthetic Store?
You can protect your prosthetic store from all of the unique risks you face with a customized package of business insurance policies, including:
- Commercial property coverage, for buildings and their contents, such as computers, equipment (whether it is owned or leased), furniture, and inventory.
- Business interruption coverage, which compensates for lost business income and pays for operating expenses if you must temporarily close following a covered loss (e.g., a building fire).
- General liability coverage, which pays for claims of bodily injury and property damage that occur in your office (e.g., a patient trips and falls in your office, breaking a wrist)
You probablyy also need professional liability insurance to protect against errors, omissions, and negligence in your professional advice or services. If a patient is physically or financially harmed as a result of your care, you can be sued for damages and even lose your ability to operate.
An independent insurance agent can discuss your options and help you find coverage that is tailored for prosthetic stores.
The Importance of Product Liability Insurance for Prosthetic Stores
If you sell a faulty product that causes harm to a client, you’re likely to be named in a lawsuit even though you did not manufacture the product that caused the problem.
Product liability insurance covers a business’s financial responsibility for losses or injuries to a user, buyer, or bystander caused by a defect or malfunction of a product. In some instances, product liability insurance may also cover you for defective design and failing to warn a buyer of a particular danger.
Any company that participates in bringing a faulty product to market can be sued. Given that your store sells medical equipment for personal use, you have a significant product liability exposure.
If you are sued for selling a faulty product, the medical costs, compensatory damages, economic damage, attorney fees, and court costs can be insurmountable.
There is some product liability coverage provided in your general liability policy. But sometimes that coverage is not sufficient for the level of risk you face. Ask your independent insurance agent if you need to purchase additional product liability insurance to fully cover the specific risks you face.
Other Prosthetic Store Insurance to Consider
You might also want to consider certain endorsements (customized coverage add-ons) to your property or liability policies, or additional stand-alone policies that provide the following types of coverage:
- Computers and media coverage protects you from the inconvenience and financial loss for your prosthetic store if theft, vandalism, viruses, or malware damages your computers. This coverage pays for loss of data or software as well as physical damage to computers and other hardware.
- Cyber liability insurance provides coverage in the event of a data breach involving your practice. Whether the breach involves credit card data or the social security numbers and medical records of your patients, a data breach can cause significant financial and emotional distress for everyone involved. This coverage helps pay for the costs of notifying affected patients, as well as public relations and investigative costs.
- Commercial umbrella insurance provides excess liability protection beyond the limits of several other policies you might have, including commercial general liability or employers liability. If an injury lawsuit awards a judgment against you that exceeds the limits of your CGL policy, your commercial umbrella policy would cover the difference.
- Workers’ compensation insurance is typically required for any business that has employees, and pays for lost income and medical expenses for employees who are injured on the job. An employee who injures her back while lifting a heavy box of office supplies would need this coverage to help with medical bills and lost wages for any time away from work.
- Employers liability insurance covers you if a current of former employee sues you for discriminatory employment practices.
- Valuable papers coverage can help you reproduce documents, such as medical or financial records, if they are damaged by a fire or some other covered event (theft, weather event, etc.).
How Much Does Prosthetic Store Insurance Cost?
The cost of prosthetic store insurance depends on several factors, including the size of your business and the types of policies you need to cover all of your unique risks.
With so many variables (e.g., number of employees, equipment of varying types and values, the location and size of your building or office space, value of inventory on hand, etc.), business insurance costs will vary among stores like yours.
Find and Compare Quotes
An independent agent can work with you one-on-one to determine the types and amounts of coverage you need to protect your business from a variety of costly problems. Your agent can get quotes from multiple insurance companies so you can evaluate the cost and coverage options and make the best choice.
Benefits of an Independent Agent
Independent insurance agents simplify the search process for finding the right prosthetic store insurance. They’ll walk you through some handpicked policy options and explain the details and options.
Most importantly, they’ll be there for you when claim time comes. They know the ins and outs of the process and will make sure your claim is handled appropriately.
The Lowdown on Online Quotes
Online quotes can be tempting. They are fast and easy to get—but are they accurate? And are you getting quotes for the right coverage? For business owners, choosing speed over accuracy can cost you.
Online quotes can’t and don’t see the whole picture. They can leave out important coverage that will leave you devastated if something unexpected happens. And they can leave out cost-saving opportunities that an agent can help you take advantage of.
Instead of getting an online quote, find an independent insurance agent now, and get one-on-one consultation and affordable options for the best coverage for your unique needs.
