If you want to become a self-employed occupational therapist and have a health insurance license, you must provide proof of an existing occupational therapist professional liability insurance. Because the professional liability occupational therapy practices extensively protects, it should be missing in any occupational therapy practice anyway.
Professional liability is important for occupational therapists and occupational therapy practices not only because it covers legitimate claims for damages. It also keeps unjustified ones away from you and, if necessary, pays the legal costs for them. Insurance coverage is offered by the occupational therapist insurance for occupational therapy practices u.a. for personal injury, property damage or financial loss.
The professional liability costs are often very favorable, especially for occupational therapists in the sideline profession. In addition, it can be optimally combined with a favorable private liability for singles or also for the whole family.
Who can be insured?
Professional liability insurance protects occupational therapists from the financial consequences of personal injury, property damage or even financial loss in the event of a claim.
- Occupational therapy / Chiropractic
- Pediatrics / Geriatrics
- Orthopedics / Rheumatology
Occupational therapists are advised to take out liability insurance for their business or freelance work in time to start their own business.
Occupational therapy professional liability: Recommendation!
It is always not easy to make a recommendation for a specific professional liability for occupational therapists. Why? Because one tariff might be optimal for you, but for other occupational therapists it might not be. then, because of further activities, which are exercised, does not fit. A favorable business / professional liability insurance for occupational therapy practices is offered u.a. following insurers:
- Adcuri
- Continentale
- Gothaer
- The liability insurance
- Helvetia
- Interlloyd
In principle, we recommend a short, telephone consultation on professional liability for occupational therapists. We will talk through your current situation and then send you a concrete professional liability offer, specifically tailored to your needs. You will not incur any (!) further costs. On the contrary, due to our specialization in health professions, we can offer you very favorable professional liability rates.
How high are the professional liability costs for occupational therapists??
Since professional liability costs vary depending on the type and scope of your activity, we will be happy to provide you with an individual offer. In addition to the activity as an occupational therapist, further activities can be included in the insurance cover. We will be happy to provide you with an individual professional liability offer for your occupational therapy activity at short notice and without complications.
What does professional liability for occupational therapy practices protect against??
In our opinion, however, the most important insurance for occupational therapists is professional liability. Self-employed people should not do without this coverage. While the professional liability insurance for occupational therapists protects practices in the event of personal injury or property damage and is also a compulsory insurance, other insurances for occupational therapists should rather be considered optional.
- persons& Property damage up to 10 Mio. EUR sum insured
- Damage caused by employees
- Damage to rented premises
Other insurances may therefore be dispensable, especially for prospective self-employed persons, in order not to strain the financial budget unnecessarily. However, professional liability for occupational therapy practices is indispensable if you want to start your independent practice with peace of mind.
Getting healthy through activity
Occupational therapy is part of the medical health professions. Ergotherapy means "recovery through work". This means that an occupational therapist helps sick, injured or disabled people to regain their lost ability to act in everyday life or, in the case of small children, to establish this ability in the first place. A person's abilities can be lost due to an illness such as a stroke or an accident. They can also be due to disturbances in the development not matured at all. This is especially the case for children. The ability to act in everyday life means that a person is able to face his or her tasks and thus fit into society in order to lead a satisfying life. Occupational therapy aims to establish maximum independence and autonomy in everyday life, at school and at work. In order to achieve this goal, various occupational therapy approaches are conceivable. They aim to improve the physical and mental condition, to reduce suffering and pain and also to prevent or at least delay the need for care.
How occupational therapists work
Professional liability insurance for occupational therapy is important because even the best therapist cannot force a successful treatment. One will train and prepare physical movements depending on the disease pattern. In addition, strength, flexibility, endurance and coordination are improved, probably with a focus on the torso. Occupational therapists offer help for self-help by assisting with washing, dressing, eating, swallowing and drinking. They facilitate participation in everyday life by training the handling of money, means of communication, orientation in traffic, time management and daily structuring and many other important skills. In case of brain injuries, brain training is of course on the agenda. In individual cases, an occupational therapist also conducts an analysis of the living situation in order to adapt the living space to the patient's needs. Occupational therapy is used, among other things, for strokes and heart attacks, for congenital physical and mental damage, for rheumatic complaints, for children if they have behavioral or developmental disorders, and for people who suffer from impaired coordination of motor function. Other areas of application are age-related diseases, which include Parkinson's or Alzheimer's as diseases of the brain or multiple sclerosis as a disease of the nervous system.
A school education is possible
You become an occupational therapist through school-based training. This is therefore a training profession that is learned by attending a vocational school. The duration of the training is three years. In order to be successful in professional life and to experience fun at work, pedagogical skills and empathy are absolutely necessary. Patients want to be motivated and guided and need a therapist who is responsive to them. Communication skills and a willingness to get in touch are also necessary, because physicians are in regular contact with their patients. Perseverance and psychological stability are qualities that even a young professional should have. Finally, knowledge of biology to understand the human body and of technology are quite important if manual and creative techniques are to be applied to healing. After the training, it is possible to work as an employee or as a self-employed person. Employees are not usually required to have professional liability insurance for occupational therapy. They should be insured through the employer's professional liability, but in individual cases it is advisable to clarify the scope of insurance. This is the only way that employed occupational therapists can be sure that there will be no insurance gap in the event of a claim.
Self-employed persons need a professional liability insurance
Insurance coverage for self-employed occupational therapists is somewhat more extensive. On the one hand, professional liability for occupational therapy is strongly recommended. Those who want to be admitted to a health insurance fund are also required to have sufficient professional and public liability insurance.
Neither physicians nor health professionals can guarantee that a treatment will really be crowned with success. But there is always the risk that a dissatisfied patient may claim damages or compensation for pain and suffering. This may be the case when therapy has not been successful, has not brought relief or has even worsened the symptoms.
Occupational therapists can be held legally accountable for the damage that appears to have occurred. If there is no professional liability insurance for occupational therapy practices and the patient has demonstrably suffered a loss, the occupational therapist must pay for it out of his or her own pocket. In the worst case, this can result in financial ruin.
Further insurances for occupational therapists
In addition to occupational liability occupational therapy, other insurances are recommended. Commercial contents insurance covers damage that occurs to practice equipment and furniture. This damage can be caused, for example, by a burglary. Since technical equipment or sports equipment is expensive, it should definitely be covered by business contents insurance.
In addition, business interruption insurance is important. If the therapist has to stop his practice for some time because he himself is ill or because external circumstances do not allow him to continue, there will be a loss of income. Business interruption insurance pays for these losses and compensates for the damage incurred.
And finally, legal malpractice insurance is one of the most important types of insurance outside of occupational therapy professional liability. If there is a dispute with a supplier or even if your own employees are employed and there are disputes under labor law, legal protection insurance is very helpful. The insurance covers the costs of the lawyer and the court, and may also cover the costs of the other party if the case is lost.
