Vital Insurance for Senior Living Facilities

Why Insurance Is Crucial for Senior Living Operations

Staff work tirelessly to assist residents with their daily living requirements, check their health status, and distribute medication. In many cases, while staff members carry out their vital tasks, they also worry that residents might slip and fall or otherwise injure themselves. Insurance for senior living facilities covers slips and falls and other incidents, so it is essential to the running of such a facility.

If you’re responsible for senior living facilities or nursing homes, you’ll know the monumental amount of work that goes into meeting your residents’ needs while ensuring they’re comfortable and safe. Don’t put it all at risk by operating without long-term care insurance. If you’ve had trouble finding solutions, XINSURANCE may be able to help.

Accidents and Incidents Are Common in Senior Living Facilities

While senior living communities aim to be a safe place of care for older adults, accidents and incidents may still occur. Residents often face physical and mental challenges that leave them more prone to risks. They may face a wide variety of dangerous situations.

Many residents in senior living facilities are vulnerable to falling and other accidents. Over 3 million emergency room visits occur yearly due to older people falling. Various environmental hazards could contribute to falls, including obstructions and a lack of necessary handrails. In a fall or other emergency, a quick response matters, which is why adequate safety alert systems are vital.

Unfortunately, older adults are also more at risk of the effects of negligent or even abusive staff. In a survey from the Nursing Home Abuse Center, 24.3% of family members of nursing home residents reported at least one incident of physical abuse.

Other common risks include:

• Medication errors
• Infection
• Accidents during transportation

Ways to Lower Your Risks

While there are risks when operating a senior living facility, you also have options for lowering them. These actions include:

• Employee screening: Background checks and other in-depth employee screening processes may help uncover potential red flags before hiring.
• Staff training: Effectively train staff before they begin work and provide regular updates on critical issues like fall prevention, infection control, and abuse recognition. This training can help employees know what actions to take in various situations.
• Care plans: Conduct preadmission assessments to get to know each resident before they arrive at your facility. This step enables you to understand residents’ needs and particular risks. If residents’ needs change, update their care plans accordingly to keep everyone on the same page.
• Policy development: Create detailed policies regarding every aspect of your operations, from infection control to abuse prevention, so employees know the rules. Update policies as regulations or industry standards change.
• Safety systems: Ensure your facility has the tools to protect residents, from handrails to emergency alert systems. Routinely inspect and maintain these systems for added safety.

Why Do Senior Living Facilities Need Specialty Insurance Solutions?

Those responsible for senior living facilities and nursing homes will have noticed their general liability premiums have gone through the roof. To make life even more difficult, many insurance carriers have exited the market. Furthermore, many standard insurance policies may leave gaps or have exclusions, leaving your most pressing exposures unprotected. Getting liability insurance for senior care can be a real challenge.

This situation may leave you open to liability claims made against your business. Even if an incident was an accident or if an injury sustained by a resident was caused by someone who isn’t employed at your senior living facility, the blame could be considered yours. Nursing homes and other facilities face unique and elevated risks, like falls, infections, and abuse allegations. A history of past claims or incidents could increase the difficulty of finding coverage. Your risks could also change over time as regulatory and legal standards evolve.

What can you do to protect your senior living facility? Seek out specialty insurance solutions. These policies can help provide comprehensive and personalized coverage to your facility’s particular risks.

Find Customized Coverage for Your Facility

No one should have to perform their job while dealing with the stress of a potential lawsuit, especially a job that takes care of our elderly population. At XINSURANCE, we believe that everyone should enjoy tailor-made liability coverage, even if their occupation or business is classified as high-risk or if other insurers have refused them coverage.

XINSURANCE is powered by Evolution Insurance Brokers, LC (“EIB”), an excess and surplus lines insurance brokerage. Our unique all-in-one approach allows us to look at your operations and experience levels to find a customized liability coverage solution that suits your needs.

We may be able to identify the following solutions to insurance for senior living facilities:

• Commercial general liability
• Personal liability
• Professional liability
• Alleged sexual abuse and molestation liability
• Alleged assault and battery liability
• Business auto (not all states)
• Property
• Directors and officers
• Errors and omissions
• Active shooter liability
• Premises liability
• Communicable disease liability

Get a Customized Quote

No one responsible for senior living facilities should have to suffer the anxiety and stress that comes with inadequate liability coverage. Your job is vital in keeping our elderly population happy and healthy, and we recognize that you shouldn’t have to do it without protection. Nor should you have to fight to get insurance in the first place.

At XINSURANCE, we’re here to help you find customized solutions for insurance for elderly care facilities. Get in touch for a quote on a solution built especially for you.

Authored by Rick J. Lindsey, President, Chairman, and CEO of XINSURANCE

Rick J. Lindsey hails from Salt Lake City, Utah. He began working in the mailroom of his father’s Salt Lake City insurance firm, getting his introduction to the business that became his lifelong career. Rick J. Lindsey quickly rose through the ranks while working in nearly every imaginable insurance industry job. As an entrepreneur, specialty lines underwriter, claims specialist, risk manager, and a licensed surplus lines broker, Rick J. Lindsey is highly skilled in all levels of leadership and execution. As he progressed on his career path, Rick J. Lindsey discovered an urgent need for insurers willing to write policies for high-risk individuals and businesses. He was frequently frustrated that he could not provide the liability protection these entities desperately needed to safeguard their assets. He also formed the belief that insurance companies acted too quickly to settle frivolous claims. Rick J. Lindsey decided to try a different approach. He started an insurance company and became the newly formed entity’s CEO. This opportunity has enabled Rick J. Lindsey to fill a void in the market and provide a valuable service to businesses, individuals, and insurance agents who write high-risk business. XINSURANCE also specializes in helping individuals and businesses who live a lifestyle or participate in activities that make them difficult for traditional carriers to insure. If you’ve been denied, non-renewed, or canceled coverage, don’t give up quite yet. Chances are XINSURANCE can help.