Social workers generally aren’t in it for the money. Most people become social workers because they’ve got a desire to help people, but despite the fact that they give very valuable community service, it doesn’t necessarily prevent them from being sued. All social workers, to financially protect themselves from a negligence claim, need professional liability insurance. New York City has thousands of people who obtain assistance from social workers daily, so the law of averages suggests that some clients won’t be happy.
It takes only one dissatisfied client to choose to sue you, and your career plus your financial security could be in jeopardy if you do not have liability insurance.
Those who are not covered by professional liability insurance should consider getting covered as soon as possible, and those who are covered should figure out how to lessen the risk for a claim. Besides always doing the most effective job you are able to do, it could help to achieve the highest level of qualification possible, and also to regularly take education courses to keep current on best practice.
We can’t emphasize enough the importance of professional liability insurance in New York. The city’s residents are not shy in threatening legal action, so it’s important that you have a level of financial protection in place. Even defending a claim that isn’t credible is usually expensive.
