Insurance

I renewed my professional liability insurance today.  Is it because I’m scared of being found liable in a lawsuit?  No. As I’ve probably said before, it’s pretty hard to be found liable on a professional liability action in EMS.  Many states have laws that protect EMS providers from liability, especially for volunteer providers.

Immunity from liability and immunity from suit are two different things.  What does that mean?  Immunity from liability means you won’t be held liable for a judgment in most cases.  Immunity from suit means you can’t be sued whatsoever.  Most EMS liability laws provide immunity from judgment, not immunity from suit. In short, it means someone or anyone can always sue you.  For any reason. For no reason.   And most of the time, you’re stuck with the cost, both in time and money, of responding and defending even the most frivolous of lawsuit.

There’s where insurance comes in.   You see, liability insurance (even including your car insurance) comes with something called a “duty to defend.”   In short, that means that if you’re sued for an act that your liability insurance  protects against, you’ve got a lawyer to represent you as well as having an amount of money to pay a court judgment or settle the case.

And depending on the benefits offered by your insurance, you may also be entitled to legal representation in the event that a regulatory/licensing agency takes action against you.  The state will most likely have an attorney involved and it’s in your best interest to have an attorney who’s fully versed in the intricacies of your state’s EMS laws and regulations as well as the administrative procedures and proceedings that the state will follow.

I keep hearing two particular myths or misconceptions about why you don’t need liability insurance.

1) If I have insurance, it makes me more likely to be sued.  Fact is, if there’s a claim, the plaintiffs’ attorneys are going to sue everyone regardless.  Even if not to get your money, they will try to make a deal with someone to testify against someone else.  (Think of how the police are with informants….)  And in these cases, you need both legal representation and possibly money to make the case go away, one way or the other.

2) My company/employer has coverage.  Yes, they probably do, but it’s for their protection.  Your interest and their interest are not always the same, especially for a larger employer.   In the case where EVERYONE gets named as a defendant, people are going to be looking at settling.  If that means selling an employee down the river, you can guarantee that they’ll do that to cut their losses.

I may be a lawyer, but I’m not your lawyer, so please don’t take this for legal advice.  Do, however, consider getting your own liability insurance, not just to protect your assets, but to get you legal counsel when you most need it.