Professional Liability Insurance Update

Dear ONTABA member,

The ONTABA Board of Directors would like to provide an update regarding professional liability insurance.

As you may know, earlier this year we received a quote from an insurance company who would provide Errors and Omissions insurance for those practicing applied behaviour analysis in Ontario.  The quote had two options: a $1 million level (Premium approximately $700, with a $1000 deductible) and the $2 million level (Premium approximately $900 with a $1000 deductible) . This was based on having at least 30 people interested. ONTABA surveyed the membership to determine if there was sufficient interest in obtaining professional liability insurance .Unfortunately, we did not receive enough responses during our survey to move forward.

However, we continue to receive requests from members regarding the availability of professional liability insurance, thus the Board has decided to move forward with obtaining another quote. We realize this is an ongoing interest and issue pertaining to many of our members. We will be exploring different insurance options based on the nature of work that is typically conducted by our members (e.g., IBI services, in home ABA consultations), as this may effect the cost of the insurance.

Some members who responded to the survey indicated they would be interested if the cost was lower.  Members need to be aware that insurance for ABA providers may be higher than other professions (e.g., Speech and Language Pathology, Occupational Therapy) due to the fact that ABA is not a regulated health profession in the province of Ontario, thus we do not have the particular safeguards that are associated with these professions (e.g., a Regulatory College mandating and monitoring practice standards).

We thank all members who have shown interest in professional liability insurance and will keep you posted as new information arises. Please feel free to contact us at contact@ontaba.org should you have specific questions.

Sincerely,

 

Carobeth Zorzos, M.A., BCBA
Secretary, Board of Directors,
ONTABA