The Communicable Disease Exclusion: What It Removes From Your Professional Liability Coverage
Most home care agency owners read a professional liability section for what it covers. In a caregiver transmission claim, the clause that decides the outcome is usually the one describing what it does not.
An absolute communicable disease exclusion sits on the professional liability section of the policy. Where it appears, it removes cover for communicable diseases that could be transmitted by your caregivers in the home of a client. It is written broadly, and the list of diseases it reaches is not a short one.
What falls inside the exclusion
Diseases captured by this wording include, but are not limited to:
- Coronaviruses
- Rhinovirus
- Influenza, flu and colds
- HIV
- Tuberculosis (TB)
- Salmonella and Escherichia coli
- Ringworm
What it means for your agency
If a client accuses your agency of making them sick with a communicable disease, and your policy carries this exclusion, the claim falls outside your coverage. Two consequences follow, and the second is the one owners tend not to expect.
- No coverage for the claim itself. The professional liability section does not respond.
- No defense coverage. Defense is removed along with the cover. If you are sued, you pay your own attorney to defend the claim — commonly in the range of $300 to $600 an hour.
Even winning costs you
The exclusion does not distinguish between a claim with merit and one without. A claim you defeat is still defended out of your own cash — money taken out of the business to win, and none of it comes back. That is the part of this professional liability risk that never shows up in a premium comparison.
How to check your own policy
Find the professional liability section of your policy, not the general liability section, and look for a communicable disease exclusion. Note whether the word absolute appears, and whether the wording carves defense costs back in. If you cannot find the answer in a few minutes, send us the policy and we will tell you what it says.
Our quote covers this
Send us your professional liability section and we will tell you whether this exclusion is on it. One reading, no obligation, and you will know where you stand before your next renewal. Ask us to show you the wording in our quote and compare it against what you hold today.