Med Mal Policy Features You May Feel Strongly About, Pt 2

Consent to Settle Clause. After taking a short break and discussing the historic Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act, the bloggers at MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com are returning to our series on policy features, which we know has a very large impact on your practice. Today we will be discussing the Consent to Settle Clause.

If you read our last post on the Hammer Clause, you know that most insurance companies have processes and policy features in place that protect their bottom line. The Consent to Settle Clause is related to the Hammer Clause. Most standard admitted med mal insurance policies have a standard policy feature that puts you, the caregiver, in the driver’s seat regarding a claim. Simply put, a Consent to Settle Clause is exactly what it sounds like. If you have a claim, the insurance company must refer to you with regards to settlement; if you don’t want to settle a claim, and want to continue fighting in court, the Consent to Settle provision allows you to do so.

Why is the Consent to Settle Clause so important? With so many frivolous medical malpractice insurance cases brought against physicians in a given year, it is imperative that a physician guard his or her reputation and plan for the longer term. Remember, your priority and the insurance company’s priority may not necessarily be the same. Your medical malpractice insurance company may be defending thousands of claims at any given moment. Naturally, they are looking to spread their losses and minimize losses, so they may be more willing to settle a claim than you are. With the Consent to Settle Clause, you decide whether to continue fighting or settle a claim.

The agents at MyMedicalMalpracticeInsurance.com always suggest that you speak to an attorney about the validity of a claim against you. So, if you do decide to use your Consent to Settle provision of your policy, you use it wisely.