By Matt Gracey

Florida doctors are now enjoying a very “soft” buyer-centered market cycle, although I believe this is close to ending.  Back in 2000 we were in a similar market cycle, which led to many insurers pulling out of the state and the others dramatically increasing their malpractice-insurance rates a year or two later.  My advice as we enter the end of this soft market is to find a stable, well-funded, Florida-committed malpractice insurer so that you will lessen the chances of your coverage being canceled by your insurer when the going gets tough soon.
 
When deciding which insurer will handle your coverage, remember that not all malpractice insurers are created equal, by any stretch of the imagination.  This is contrary to what you might read and hear from slick marketing folks and what you might like to believe so you feel more comfortable and secure just price shopping. As with every important purchase decision, a risk/reward calculation is useful.  If a new, unrated insurer is promising great coverage and superb defense against claims, all for a price much below the rest of the marketplace, then there is a very high probability that they are just luring you in with unsustainable marketing promises.  In the last malpractice-insurance crisis of the early 2000s, over 50 insurers stopped insuring Florida doctors and left many facing expensive “tail” purchases, so choose very carefully as we come to the end of this buyers’ market part of the never-ending cycle.