Assisted living facility insurance

What coverages make up an assisted living insurance program?

An assisted living insurance program is usually built on medical professional liability and general liability, written together so care-related and premises-related claims are not argued between two policies. Around that core sit property and equipment breakdown coverage for the building, workers’ compensation for staff, commercial auto for resident transportation, and cyber liability for resident records. Excess professional liability raises limits above the primary policy when contracts, lenders or your own risk tolerance call for more.

Does assisted living insurance cover residents’ lost or stolen belongings?

Not automatically. Residents’ jewelry, hearing aids, dentures, eyeglasses and other personal items are not the facility’s property, so the community’s property policy does not cover them, and liability policies respond only if the facility is legally responsible. A resident property damage endorsement fills that gap by covering residents’ personal property that is damaged, lost or stolen while in your care, under limits separate from your general and professional liability.

Missing-item complaints are small, frequent and emotional for families. Paying them under a dedicated endorsement keeps them from eroding your liability limits or affecting your professional liability claims history, and gives staff a clear process when a family reports a loss.

• Inventory personal items, including dentures and hearing aids, at move-in and after hospital returns.
• Document how missing-item reports are logged, searched and escalated.
• Confirm whether theft by an employee is covered by the endorsement or requires third-party crime coverage.

Who pays to relocate residents if an assisted living community has to evacuate?

A fire, flood, power failure or loss of heat can force a community to move residents on short notice, and the costs of transportation, temporary placement and staff overtime add up quickly. Business income coverage on the property policy replaces lost revenue while the building is repaired, but it may not pay every evacuation cost. An emergency evacuation expense endorsement helps offset the cost of moving residents off the premises when an emergency requires it.

• Business income and extra expense. Lost revenue and added operating costs while a covered loss is repaired.
• Emergency evacuation expense. Costs of evacuating residents, subject to the endorsement’s own limit and trigger.
• Equipment breakdown. Failure of boilers, HVAC, electrical systems and generators, which often causes the evacuation in the first place.

We review your emergency plan with the policy side by side, so the triggers in the policy match the events your plan prepares for.

What management liability coverage does an assisted living operator need?

Assisted living operators should carry employment practices liability for claims from staff, directors and officers liability for leadership decisions, fiduciary liability for employee benefit plans, and crime coverage for theft and fraud. These protect the organization and its leaders rather than residents, and they matter most in high-turnover workforces, nonprofit communities with volunteer boards, and operators with investors or lenders who expect governance protection.

• Employment practices liability. Wrongful termination, discrimination and harassment claims; wage-and-hour claims are often excluded or sublimited.
• Directors & officers. Allegations against leadership over decisions about staffing, finances or regulatory compliance.
• Fiduciary liability. Errors in administering retirement and health plans for employees.
• Crime. Employee theft, forgery and funds-transfer fraud, including losses involving residents’ money if the policy is written to cover it.