How does insurance coverage effect the settlement of therapist abuse cases?
Most therapists do not earn enough money to pay for the large verdicts and settlements that generally occur in therapist abuse cases. Thus, if the plaintiff is going to be fully compensated, he or she must establish insurance coverage. Insurance coverage is made difficult in therapist abuse cases since insurance policies regularly either exclude payment of damages for intentional or sexual misconduct, or limit the payment of the damages to a $25,000 sex cap. To maintain insurance coverage, the plaintiff attorney must understand the importance of pleading non-sexual negligence in the case and damage from that negligence. Further, the plaintiff’s experts should testify that most of the plaintiff’s damages stem from the therapist’s negligent misconduct as opposed to excluded sexual misconduct. Usually, this is the case. This will increase the chances of a plaintiff being able to overcome the sexual exclusions and the sex cap and receive a fair settlement.
