Malpractice Insurance 101: Get to Know Your Certificate of Insurance

Your certificate of insurance for your malpractice insurance policy is a useful tool to have available, as it may be requested by current or future employers and it contains a summary of your malpractice coverage. The certificate of insurance, sometimes referred to as an ‘ACORD 25’ or a ‘Memorandum of Insurance,’ is typically a single page that is included in the first few pages of your full policy packet documentation. With some malpractice insurance providers, such as AOAExcel’s endorsed malpractice insurance provider, Lockton Affinity, a doctor of optometry can receive their full policy packet within minutes of purchasing their malpractice insurance coverage.

Below is a sample certificate of insurance from Lockton Affinity:

Anatomy of a certificate of insurance:

1. Name of Insured – This section contains your name and address.
2. Name of Producer or Broker – This section contains the name and address of the producer or broker you purchased your malpractice insurance through. For AOA members who participate in the AOA Insurance Alliance Program, the producer will be Lockton Affinity.
3. Name of Carrier – This will be the name of the insurance carrier that underwrites the policy.
4. Type of Coverage – Certificates of insurance are available for multiple types of coverage, including general liability, business owner’s policies, and malpractice insurance (also referred to as professional liability insurance). This section indicates which type of insurance is covered by the policy.
5. Type of Policy – For a malpractice insurance policy, this section will indicate either a claims-made policy or an occurrence policy. Learn more about the differences between claims-made and occurrence policies.
6. Policy Number – Knowing where to find your policy number is useful if you ever have a question about your coverage and need to reach out to your insurance provider.
7. Policy Effective Date – This is the date that your policy begins.
8. Policy Expiration Date – Malpractice insurance policies typically cover a term of one year before expiring. Many ODs will opt for auto-renewal when they purchase their policies, allowing the policy to renew automatically each year until they actively request to cancel.
9. Limits – The limits section indicates how much coverage is available per incident and per aggregate during the policy term. Learn more about limits.

This content was provided by Lockton Affinity, AOAExcel's strategic partner. Available insurance products include professional liability, cyber liability, business owners' insurance, employment practices liability insurance, and much more. To learn more, visit AOAInsuranceAlliance.com or contact Lockton Affinity at Info@AOAInsuranceAlliance.com.