Professional Liability for Georgia Home Care Agencies
Professional liability responds when the care itself is questioned — a mistake, an oversight, a medical incident. General liability covers accidents and property damage in the home. Two different claims, two different policies — and confusing them is how agencies discover coverage gaps mid-claim.
Georgia’s licensing rules make this one simple: your home care agency license application requires proof of professional liability insurance. But “having a policy” and “being covered” are different things — and in home care, the gap between them is where agencies get hurt.
What It Covers
Professional liability responds when your agency is accused of a mistake in the care itself: a missed medication reminder that leads to hospitalization, a care plan that wasn’t followed, a wound or infection not recognized in a timely manner, supervision that a family says fell short.
A home care agency needs both professional and general liability, and we recommend these are written with the same carrier. We place these two coverages together, with the same carrier, on every program we build — it can help eliminate the gap between them.
Beware of These Coverage Limitations
- Absolute communicable disease exclusions — this exclusion eliminates coverage for all communicable diseases that could be transmitted by your caregivers in a client’s home, including but not limited to coronaviruses, rhinovirus, influenza and colds, HIV, tuberculosis (TB), salmonella and E. coli, and ringworm.
- Abuse and molestation allegations — often sub-limited; in home care, an allegation can arise from a confused client or a family dispute, and defense costs can be devastating.
- 1099 & Independent Contractors — Misclassification exposes agencies to serious financial liabilities, insurance coverage gaps, and penalties that can lead to insolvency. Explore our full resource section for practical insights and compliance strategies.
These aren’t hypotheticals — they’re the fine print we read for a living. When we build a Georgia professional liability program, we go through the exclusions with you, in plain English, before you buy.
For New and Growing Georgia Agencies
If you are applying for your first Georgia home care agency license, we can structure coverage that satisfies the Department of Community Health’s application requirements without overbuying before you have clients. If you are established and growing, we will review what you have — our clients regularly discover their “complete” program has holes their previous agent never mentioned. Request a quote or send us your current policy for a no-obligation review.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my professional liability policy have an absolute communicable disease exclusion?
Check, because some do. This exclusion eliminates coverage for every communicable disease a caregiver could transmit in a client’s home — including but not limited to coronaviruses, rhinovirus, influenza and colds, HIV, tuberculosis, salmonella and E. coli, and ringworm.
If your policy carries this exclusion and a client accuses you of making them sick, you have no coverage. You also have no defense coverage, which means you pay your own attorney between $300 and $600 an hour to defend the claim. Win it and you still lose, because that money comes out of your business.
Our quote covers this.
What is the difference between professional liability and general liability?
Professional liability responds when the care itself is questioned — a missed medication reminder that leads to hospitalization, a care plan that was not followed, a wound or infection not recognized in time, supervision a family says fell short. General liability responds when your operations cause bodily injury or property damage — a fall, a fire, a broken heirloom.
Two different claims, two different policies. Confusing them is how agencies discover coverage gaps mid-claim, which is why we place both with the same carrier on every program we build.
Does Georgia require professional liability insurance to get licensed?
Yes. Your Georgia home care agency license application requires proof of professional liability insurance. But having a policy and being covered are different things, and in home care the gap between them is where agencies get hurt. When we build a Georgia program we go through the exclusions with you, in plain English, before you buy.
Is abuse and molestation covered under my professional liability policy?
It depends on the policy and the insurance agency you work with. Abuse and molestation allegations are frequently sub-limited in standard forms, meaning the policy caps that coverage well below your main limit. In home care an allegation can arise from a confused client or a family dispute, and defense costs alone can be devastating. We address this coverage directly rather than leaving it to the fine print.