With occurrence policies becoming less of an option for Ohio physicians, the cost to purchase this policy can be quite expensive. For physicians planning to practice for at least another five years, considering a claims made form can be well worth your time. But for those physicians planning to retire within five years that have always been insured on an occurrence policy, it might not make sense to switch to the claims made policy. Why? The details with the claims made form vs. the occurrence form make it cost prohibitive for you.
An occurrence policy obligates the insurance company to pay for claims arising out of occurrences during the policy period regardless of when the claim is reported. The policyholder is covered for any incident that occurs during the term of the policy regardless of when the claim arising from the incident is reported to the insurance company. In some situations, the claim might be made many years after the incident occurred.
Since this policy provides coverage for claims that arise even after the policy has been cancelled or non-renewed (as long as the claim occurred during the policy period), switching from an occurrence form to a claims made form is a simple process. The occurrence policy will provide coverage for claims that occurred during the policy period and the claims made form will provide coverage going forward from the date the occurrence policy was cancelled or non-renewed.
Tip. Switching from an occurrence form to a claims made form is easy because tail coverage is not an issue. The reverse is not so easy. If you're switching from a claims made from to an occurrence form, you will likely have to purchase tail coverage. Discuss this with your agent.
To learn more about your insurance protection, contact one of our licensed advisors. We're here to help!