Not asking for all of the available credits Most insurance companies offer multiple credits, ranging from discounts for claims-free history and practicing part time to discounts for society membership, and many others.  Never assume your credits are correct and always ask how your bottom-line premium was calculated and if there are any more credits to

Purchasing duplicate coverages Some coverages that another agent may try to say are necessary as part of another type of policy can be included in a malpractice  insurance policy, so make sure there is policy coordination to avoid duplicate expensive coverage. Check back next week for the #1 reason…

Not considering a deductible Taking a deductible basically hedges your insurance bet.  Your agent should perform a 10-year historical deductible analysis each year to give you a decision-making tool for this.    

Not choosing your liablility limits wisely Some doctors prefer lower limits but think that they are restricted from lowering their limits by a hospital, managed-care company, research study group, or the like.  Often, simply negotiating a bit will eliminate these concerns and allow a practice to lower to a much-less-expensive limit.

Not considering purchasing as part of a larger group Purchasing coverage as a small practice is almost never as economical as doing so as part of a purchasing-group program, so find a broker versed in finding you such savings. Follow up for reason #4 next week…