Insurance for the lab?????

[Brian Turensky]

I have found a small place to rent to start my lab, the owner of the building I'm planning to rent wants me to get insurance. I call my insurance agent and explain to him I'm going to start a dental lab. He calls me back 3 days later and tells me I need product liabilty insurance and quotes me at over 3,500.00 a year. Does one need liability Ins. on a lab or is this the DDS's responsibility? I live in Minnesota if this helps. Thanks, Brian Turensky

 

[TheLabGuy]

Every state is different... I'm up to 1,500 a year, but I'm also paying on two places as well. Liability insurance shouldn't be that much for a dental lab, i'd get another quote because 3,500 sounds very high to me, but then again...it could be Minnesota

 

[Mark Jackson]

You will need at LEAST product liability, and depending on what you plan on doing, possibly professional liability, but that is unlikely. You might also want to talk to your agent about liability insurance for the building and it's contents (which is most likely what your landlord was referring to in the first place)

I can think of at least six labs that have burned down. Don't take chances. Insure.

 

[doug]

Have you looked into What services are offered through the NADL? We've used their services in the past. It's what being part of the organization is all about.

 

[Brian Turensky]

re: lab insurance

I knew I needed insurance just in case I started the building on fire ect. but was not sure on the product liability insurance. I'll look into the NADL and see if they can help me out. Thanks for the suggestions so far, -Brian

 

[Smilestyler]

Omit

 

[ScottIns]

I agree with Mark that it is a good idea to have product liability. A Dental Laboratory Policy should start at $500 and go up depending on the type of risk ($ to be covered for building & contents, type and location of building you are operating in) A good Dental Laboratory Policy should include:

Product Liability
Professional Liability
General Liability (which is what the landlord is looking for)
Building Coverage (if you own the Building: $ value to replace the building)
Contents Coverage (to replace your equipment, inventory, and build outs-Replacement cost: $ value to replace everything inside)
Extra Coverages included in the Business Owners Policy include: Business Interruption, Off Premise Utility, Cases in Transit, Precious Metals

Additional Coverages for a Dental Laboratory to consider:

Workers Compensation: States might require you to have Workers Compensation Coverage for Employees
Commercial Auto: if you are using the auto for business related driving
Umbrella: Goes over your liability coverages
Employment Practices Liability Coverage

 

[Ivan]

I use the Sebrite Agency in MN. Costs me about 580/Yr. The are very familiar with Dental Lab needs. 1-800-366-6466

 

[BobCDT]

If you set up a corporation the only exposure or liability will be limited to what is owed or owned by the corporation. if you set up as proprietor you are personally at risk for product liability. I believe an LLC works like a corp.
Your fire protection will not or does not need to cover the entire building. Your land lord has fire protection on the building. Your fire protection will cover losses you or the corp would incur in the event of a fire or flood. You may also want to get some business interruption insurance. This will help you maintain some income and help you get restarted. The quote you receives is totally out of line for a small lab. Find a new insurance agent.

 

[ScottIns]

Everyone has varying thresholds for risk. I personally would not advise someone to expose their LLC or S-Corp to possible lawsuits because there is a belief that only their corporate assets are at risk. Personal assets could still be at risk if a lawyer were able to show any type of co-mingling of funds or the fact that corporate minutes were not logged correctely for the LLC or S-Corp and the corp was only set up to shield personal assets.

Dental Laboratory owners put in long hours to build up their assets and why expose those assets to a lawsuit when you can transfer the risk fairly inexpensively with a Dental Laboratory endorsement covering Product Liability and Professional Liability as IVAN did in his post above. ($48 per month for that Business Owners Policy w/Dental Lab Endorsement)

The quote from the original thread was totally out of line at $3,500 for a one person lab's liability only; unless they were also covering a $500,000 building w/$500,000 in contents or more....

Most business owners policy should cover products and completed operations, but read your policies to make sure they are not excluded for your own piece of mind. Professional Liability adds on another layer of protection for failure to render services or render services incorrectely. Lawsuits are not that common, but if you are named in a lawsuit you still could have some defense costs or a judgement.

Insurance Policies and Cases have some similiarities:

There is a wide range in quality of the products and pricing...

 

[AL1]

Just got very comprehensive insurance for my in home lab covers completed product and about 3 pages of other stuff, cost is $650 a year.Pretty cheap for peace of mind.

 

[BobCDT]

Just got very comprehensive insurance for my in home lab covers completed product and about 3 pages of other stuff, cost is $650 a year.Pretty cheap for peace of mind.

Just out of curiosity, did you ask the insurer if you are covered with your homeowners ins for fire and the house burns down due to having a business in it? There could be an issue if the zoning for the house is not zoned for business.

 

[AL1]

According to the city,county and state rules you can have a home business as long as you have no commercial foot traffic, no visible signs of your business if you stand on any street corner in your neighborhood.
I was issued a business license according to the rules of my city,county and state. I checked all of this out before I opened my lab. They new what I was opening and give their ok.
Whatever my home owners doesnt cover as far as fire goes my new lab policy does.
Checked that out too.
My home owners policy is with a different company than the lab because they didnt offer end product insurance in their business insurance so they recommended a different broker.

 

[BobCDT]

Sounds like your good to go.

 

[AL1]

I hope so. There is an old saying you cant be to rich or to thin now add or to insured.

 

[karabear]

I work in a dentist's lab. Am I liable for what he asks me to make and puts in the mouth?

 

[ScottIns]

Kara: Are you a W2 employee or a 1099 contractor? Is the laboratory run under the same entity as the dentist's practice?

 

[karabear]

I am a W2 and it is a separate company from the doctor's practice.

 

[ScottIns]

Employees are covered under their Employer's Liability Policy. We put a dental laboratory endorsement on our policies and that includes Professional, Product, and General Liabilities at $2,000,000 per occurence.