Liability Insurance

I have heard of malpractice insurance for doctors and lawyers, I have heard of bonding employees who deal with high volumes of money, but I would never have thought a teacher would be sued for failure to teach a student properly or held responsible for an accident that took place in the classroom. However, the world that we live in today no one is immune to litigation, not even a teacher.

One of the items that was recommended to me prior to entering a classroom was Teacher Liability Insurance. It is not required in my state but in some states it is. If you are part of a union, it is typically included in your membership. You have to be careful when purchasing a policy just as with any policy, they are not all created equal. After lots of research and seeking recommendations, I decided to join the Association of American Educators.

For a student teacher membership is $25 annually and includes $2 million dollars of protection. For professionals, it is $180 annually and includes the same amount of protection. For this policy, AAE is directly billed for any fees occurred which was important to me. For many policies, you are simply reimbursed for your expenses. Some policies also have deductibles so be aware of what your coverages are and make sure that if something does happen you have the means to handle it. A professor told me this is just like life insurance, you have it just in case you ever need it but hope you never have to.