In the property and casualty insurance world, which includes liability covers such as Errors and Omissions, Medical Malpractice, General Liability, Cyber Liability, Professional Liability, and Employers Professional Liability, the chain of claim is virtually the same.
The claim chain looks like this:
The claim resolution is most often settled through claims adjudication processes, and on extremely rare occasions escalates to a lawsuit. Some relatively simple claims such as a Deposition or Records Request may be resolved in a matter of week(s). State Licensing Board inquiry claims may cost $2,000 in legal fees to adjudicate requiring over nine months to resolve as the case grinds through the local bureaucracy. On the other hand, lawsuits may require years to resolve depending on the matter, a plaintiff(s), the defendant(s), and venue(s). It has been the NASW Risk Retention Group’s experience that extremely few lawsuits are filed against its insured social workers. We believe that this is a combination of strong ethics and NASW affiliation, as well as robust risk management training. The vast majority of the few lawsuits that are filed against its insureds are dismissed or won by the NASW Risk Retention Group.