Yet they have an equivalent type of education. Safeco was approached by an agent who had a program, so they put together a product. Extended protection for prior acts and free tail coverage upon death, disability or retirement at any age. Coverage for liability assumed under contracts with HMOs, PPOs and IPAs. Defense costs are outside of and in addition to limits of liability.
Coverage includes defense costs associated with peer review actions.
The program also includes discounts based on a podiatrist's patient mix, medical treatments, loss experience, part-time practice and membership in professional associations. Doman continues that the adjusters in the program are totally dedicated to medical malpractice. The company also is sending out numerous mailings to support the program. That strong response clearly indicates that this niche is interested in admitted markets for this coverage, which primarily has been available only from non-admitted carriers. Another factor is Safeco's ability to come up with a rate that actually reflects the doctor's risk using individual underwriting rather than a cookie-cutter approach.