A Tangible APsaA Member Benefit to Save You Money

APsaA membership does indeed have its privileges. Many of us recognize some of the obvious benefits of membership, such as advanced notification of scientific meetings and reduced registration fees, a valuable source of referrals, the gift to us that our listservs are, and involvement with other professional advocacy groups on social issues important to our field. Others treasure the opportunity to build professional and social relationships with members near and far through committee work and networking activities at meetings, and through the listservs.

However, many members either remain unaware of or overlook the great bounty available to us for the taking. Take, for example, our access to first-rate liability insurance. Underwritten by American Home and administered by Frenkel & Company, the program became available to psychiatrists in 1972 and has been available nationwide for psychologist and social worker members since 2014.

The policy offered by Frenkel & Company is issued on an “occurrence” policy coverage form. This is a superior form when compared to the more frequently offered “claims-made” coverage form. There are several important differences between occurrence form policies and claims-made policies. Occurrence form policies afford coverage as long as the covered claim occurred during the policy period. Under a claims-made“ policy, coverage is only afforded if the covered claim was reported to the insurance company during the policy period. A claims-made policy, in many instances, requires the purchase of an extended reporting period endorsement or ”tail coverage“ as it is most commonly known. Tail coverage is not required with occurrence-based policies. Additionally, the liability limits for an occurrence policy essentially is reset each year. If, for example, you purchased an occurrence policy for 20 years, you could conceivably have 20 separate limits to respond to claims that get reported at any time regardless of when the policy ends. With a claims-made policy, you have only one policy period with one limit to respond upon reporting a claim.

Member enrollees have been pleasantly surprised by the level of coverage, such as the provision of defense costs outside the policy limit, the customer service experience with the convenience of getting a live person on the phone when you call, and the sheer affordability of the plan.

To get a sense of the savings one can expect, please see the by-discipline table below for a comparison of plans and approximate cost savings. (Please note: Liability insurance coverage and premium amount requirements vary by state).

For more information, including a free quote, please visit or call Claudia Chavez, account executive at Frenkel & Company, at 201-356-3403.