Malpractice Insurance
Frequently Asked Questions
Applying for and Renewing Coverage
Individual Professionals: Apply for a New Policy
Click here to receive an instant quote and apply for coverage.
Individual Professionals: Renew Your Existing Policy
- Log into your customer portal account to renew your existing CPH Malpractice Insurance policy.
- Click the My Account button above to log into your CPH customer portal account
- Once in the portal, click the green Renew my Policy button in the upper left-hand corner. This will direct you to the new CPH online application.
- Once your application and payment information have been approved, a copy of your policy documents will be automatically emailed to you.
Business Entities: Apply for a New Policy
Click here to apply online.
Business Entities: Renew Your Existing Policy
Renew online through your customer portal.
No, we do not accept applications over the phone. Every application must be completed in full and signed by the insured. Applications may be submitted online or via mail or fax.
Normal processing time for applications is 1-2 business days after the application has been received in our office. Once processed, your documents are sent immediately via email (or mail, if you do not provide an email address).
Applications submitted online will result in a confirmation page with links to your documents. In addition, the documents are automatically emailed to you.
You can also pull up copies of your most current policy documents anytime through our customer portal.
Log into your customer portal account to retrieve your proof of coverage or other policy documents:
- Click the My Account button above to log into your CPH customer portal account
- Once in the portal, go to My Documents to retrieve your proof of coverage (certificate of insurance) or other policy documents
Normal processing time for applications is 1-2 business days after the application has been received in our office. Once processed, your documents are sent immediately via email (or mail, if you do not provide an email address).
You may also download your documents through our customer portal.
Log into your customer portal account to retrieve your proof of coverage or other policy documents:
- Click the My Account button above to log into your CPH customer portal account
- Once in the portal, go to My Documents to retrieve your proof of coverage (certificate of insurance) or other policy documents
Credentialing agencies may also contact us directly to verify that you have coverage.
Yes, applications are considered incomplete without payments in full. Payment is made at one time each year, in the form of one single payment. Payment may be made by check, money order or credit card (Visa, MasterCard, or Discover). Policy documents will be issued once payment is made.
New applicants may request an effective date as soon as the date the application is received in our office and up to 75 days into the future. Effective dates cannot be backdated. If you do not select a “desired effective date,” we will default to the date the application was received.
Renewals become effective the date the current policy expires. Customers may renew no earlier than 75 days prior to their expiration date.
An Additional Insured is usually your landlord (someone you hold a lease with), an employer, board members, or an agency you contract with. Adding them to your policy gives that entity protection (an identical set of limits of liability) under your policy. These limits will be used in the event that they are sued for a Professional Incident that arises from services that YOU provide while under contract with them.
NOTE: A business partner, employee, sublessor, intern you are supervising, or a corporation that you own CANNOT be added as Additional Insureds. These cases may require that each individual take out their own coverage or that a group/corporate policy be started. In no way will the policy cover Professional Incidents that arise out of acts, errors, or omissions made by the Additional Insured entity.
If you have recently (within the last 24 months) been licensed or certified for the first time* as a mental health professional, or if you have taken a continuing education course**, you may qualify for discounts. See the application for more detailed instructions.
NOTE: If you are considered Category D or E (Student, Post-master’s/Intern under supervision, Post-Doctoral under supervision, Psych. Assistant/Associate, or if you are required by your state to practice under supervision), you do NOT qualify for ANY discounts.
*You do not qualify for any Newly-Licensed discounts if you have held a previous license or certification in any state and/or if you have possessed the credentials (required by your state) to practice unsupervised for more than 24 months, if your state does not require licensure or certification to practice unsupervised, or if your state has just recently passed licensure laws where licensure was not previously available or required. The key here is that this discount is meant for new professionals, not people who have recently become licensed due to changes in state law or who elected to get a higher level of licensure than the minimum required to practice in your state.
This administration fee is implemented to ease the rising expenses of administration services and technology improvements. This fee enables us to continue to offer our insureds the superior services our customers have come to expect from CPH Insurance.
Categories A, B, and C are for professionals with full credentials (licensed, registered, or certified by your state). Category D is for students in practicum. Category E is for Post-Master’s or Post-Doctoral individuals who are NOT yet fully-licensed and are required to be supervised as they complete hours toward a license.
ALL categories cover an unlimited amount of EMPLOYED work, meaning work where you are a W-2 employee and have taxes taken from a paycheck. Do not factor these hours into making any distinctions between categories.
In order to choose among the 3 categories for fully licensed or certified professionals (categories A, B, and C), choose your category based on the average number of hours you work a week as a SELF-EMPLOYED therapist (NO taxes taken out of your paycheck).
Special Cases: LEP, School Psych, and Psych Assistant/Associate are Category E.
For Professional Liability coverage, we only keep one address for you on file, and this is your mailing address. Your Professional Liability coverage is portable, meaning that you are covered for practice no matter what physical address you are using for counseling, provided that you are practicing under the scope of your licensure and within the U.S. To change your mailing address online, click here.
If you have purchased Commercial General Liability coverage, you must provide us with the physical premises address of each primary location you have insured. You are not required to provide us with the address of locations where you practice on a temporary or very limited basis UNLESS you have requested a certificate of insurance naming such locations as “Insured locations.”
I am practicing outside of the Continental U.S., Alaska or Hawaii—do I still qualify for coverage?
Coverage only extends to practice within U.S. states or territories. You are required to provide a mailing address within the continental U.S., Alaska or Hawaii. Military personnel must provide an alternate mailing address—we cannot accept APO addresses as your mailing address.
DBA is an abbreviation for “Doing Business As”. This section should be completed only when you operate as an individual or partner under a registered fictitious trade name (example: ABC Therapy Group) Certificates of insurance would be issued to the individual using the business name ABC Therapy Group.
If you are incorporated this is not a DBA. In order to cover your corporate entity, you need to complete a Group Entity application. These applications are available for downloading from this website.
The general rule is that as long as both licenses types fit the profile of what we normally insure, you pay the higher premium of the 2 licenses (e.g. if you are a clinical psychologist and an MFT, you would pay the psychologist rate), but there is no additional charge to cover the second license. However, if the additional occupation requested is irregular and does not appear in the list of insurable occupations on our homepage, or if you are requesting that we cover additional services provided (such as mediation, biofeedback, or hypnotherapy) that are considered to fall outside of the normal scope of your licensure, there will be a charge for an additional 10% of your premium for adding the additional occupation/set of services.
If you would like coverage for more than one license or additional services provided outside the scope of your primary license, that can be done so with your online or paper application. If you already have a policy, additional occupations can be added online in your customer portal.
*Additional occupations are subject to underwriter approval.
CPH TOP is an optional enhancement that will add the following coverage to your professional liability policy:
GENERAL LIABILITY COVERAGE. Also known as “Slip and Fall,” or “Premises Liability”, coverage. This coverage also includes:
- Bodily Injury & Property Damage Liability
- Host Liquor Liability
- Personal Liability
- $250,000 for Fire & Water Legal Liability (damage to the rented premises)
$15,000 PROPERTY COVERAGE, which covers damage to your property and property of others that is in your care, custody or control. This coverage also includes:
- $25,000 Identity Theft Expense
- $25,000 Emergency Real Estate Consulting Fee
- $25,000 Temporary Meeting Space Reimbursement
- $25,000 Workplace Violence Counseling
- $25,000 Image Restoration and Counseling
- And more…
This coverage was added to our program due to high demand from our many policyholders. We created this enhancement specifically to meet the needs of the mental health practitioner with a small office. Property coverage is currently unavailable in Florida.
Law and ethics, HIPAA. A minimum of 4 CEU’s completed within 24 months prior to your policy effective date is required unless you can demonstrate that your state requires a lesser number of CEU’s to fulfill re-licensing requirements for either Law, Ethics, or HIPAA.
If you are not sure if the course you have taken fulfills your state requirements, contact the course administrator or your licensing board. Typically, the course must include the words “Law,” “Ethics,” or “HIPAA” in its title to qualify for our discount.
If you are an intern/post-master’s AND you are required by your state to complete a number of supervised hours towards a license, you are eligible for the “Intern” rate. If you are currently insured and originally applied under student or trainee status, you must upgrade your policy to reflect your new employment status.
After you have completed your intern hours and receive your full state licensure or certification, you may be eligible for the 50% savings the first year off of your professional rate at the time of your next renewal. This rule is subject to review based on the state you live in.
Faculty members are automatically covered for claims arising out of incidents while supervising and instructing students insured under the provisions and within the limits of the student blanket policy and there is no additional premium charge for this coverage.
Yes, the school may also be covered. When a lawsuit results from a student’s action, the school will often be named in the suit. This policy will provide coverage for the school when it is named in the same claim or suit for damages for which a student and /or faculty member insured under the policy is also named, however, it will not provide coverage for a claim or suit if the school is solely named.
“Individual Student” applications are for ONE student to take out their own individual policy. “Student Blanket” applications are for universities taking out coverage for multiple students. Currently, Student Blanket group policies cannot be purchased online. To request a Student Blanket application, please email our office at groupapps@cphins.com.
Generally speaking, students can add supervisors or agencies where they are doing practicum. Students may not add landlords as Additional Insureds. All other cases are subject to review.