Liability coverage for residential care facilities for the elderly
General liability, professional liability, and abuse coverage for RCFEs, assisted living homes, and board and care facilities. These risks are underwritten individually, so we start with a full application rather than a short quote form.
Start your RCFE application
Elder care risks need more detail than a standard quote form collects. Our application portal walks through the licensing, staffing, and care level questions carriers ask, saves your answers so you can finish later, and lets you reuse them at renewal.
Start the application →What RCFE coverage usually includes
General liability
Generally intended to address third-party bodily injury and property damage on the premises, including visitor slips and falls in common areas.
Professional liability
Sometimes written as medical professional or caregivers liability. Generally intended to respond to allegations arising from the care provided, such as medication administration or failure to supervise.
Abuse and molestation
Frequently required and frequently sublimited. Because residents are a vulnerable population, this coverage gets close attention from both carriers and any facility your residents' families research.
Property and business income
For the building, contents, and lost revenue if a covered loss makes part of the facility unusable.
Workers compensation
Caregiving is physically demanding work, and lifting injuries are common. Required in most states once you have employees.
Hired and non-owned auto
If staff drive residents to appointments in personal or facility vehicles, that exposure sits outside a standard general liability policy.
What underwriters ask about
Elder care submissions get read by a person rather than priced by an algorithm. Having these details ready before you start the application makes the process considerably shorter.
- ✓Licensed capacity and current resident census
- ✓How many residents are non-ambulatory or need transfer assistance
- ✓Whether the facility holds a hospice waiver or dementia care waiver
- ✓Number of caregivers on each shift, and awake overnight staffing
- ✓Whether residents are transported, and in whose vehicles
- ✓Prior claims, citations, or state survey deficiencies
- ✓Owner or administrator experience in elder care
- ✓Whether the building is owned or leased, and its age and condition
Six-bed homes and larger facilities are different risks
A small board and care home operating out of a converted single-family residence and a purpose-built ninety-bed community share a license type but very little else from an underwriting standpoint. Staffing ratios, building construction, sprinkler status, and the mix of ambulatory and non-ambulatory residents all shift which carriers will look at the account. Smaller homes often have fewer options and benefit most from a complete, well-documented application, since a thin submission is the most common reason an elder care risk gets declined without a quote.
Ready when you are
Start the application and save your progress as you go. Someone will follow up once it is submitted.
Start the RCFE application →Related coverage: allied healthcare insurance and cyber liability for resident records.
Frequently asked questions
What is an RCFE?
A Residential Care Facility for the Elderly is a California-licensed non-medical facility providing room, board, and personal care to residents 60 and over. Licensing runs through the California Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division. Similar facilities go by other names in other states, including assisted living facility, personal care home, and residential care home.
Why is RCFE insurance harder to place than other business coverage?
Carrier appetite for elder care is narrow, and the exposure is unusual: residents live on site around the clock, care levels vary widely, and claims tend to involve serious injury rather than property damage. Most carriers underwrite these individually rather than off a rate table, which is why a full application is needed instead of a short quote form.
What coverages does an RCFE typically need?
General liability for the premises, professional liability for the care itself, and abuse and molestation coverage are the three most commonly discussed. Property, workers compensation, hired and non-owned auto (for resident transport), and employment practices liability come up frequently as well, depending on the facility.
Does bed count change the quote?
It is usually the single largest rating factor. A six-bed board and care home and a ninety-bed facility are different risks with different carriers. Licensed capacity, current census, and how many residents are non-ambulatory all get asked.
Do you write RCFEs outside California?
The RCFE license type is specific to California, but assisted living and residential care facilities in other states face the same underwriting questions. Start the application and note your state.
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