Malpractice insurance options: claims-made vs. occurrence coverage.

Professional liability insurance is not the trivial matter it was once. Premium costs are significant, the threat of malpractice litigation is tangible, sources of coverage are diverse, and there has been a proliferation of insurance carriers of different genres. Such changes have elevated the choice of malpractice insurance policy to the status of a major decision about which practitioners must be well informed. Differences between claims-made and occurrence coverage are clarified, and the advantages and disadvantages of each type of coverage are canvassed. The benefits of insuring with a commercial carrier versus a physician-owned company are also discussed in the light of trends in the structure of the liability insurance industry.