California · checked 9 August 2026
Liability insurance for a California therapy practice.
In short
What malpractice insurance do I actually need?
Eight programs compared, with what people really pay and what the law really requires
$320 published, $110 to $600 reportedNobody requires it. Everybody requires it. The Board of Behavioral Sciences does not condition your license on carrying professional liability insurance — and Headway, Alma, Blue Shield, Optum, Kaiser, Medi‑Cal and your landlord all do. This page has every program a California MFT can buy, what each publishes, what practitioners actually report paying, and the part of the policy you are far more likely to use than the million-dollar number on the front.
The thing to understand first
There are two numbers on a therapist policy, and you will use the small one.
The number every quote leads with. It answers a civil suit for damages. The Board received seven reports of a malpractice settlement or award across four fiscal years, from about 148,000 licensees. When it happens it is large — the average award paid was $360,000 — and it almost never happens.
A separate, much smaller pot for defending a complaint to the BBS. The Board took 2,127 complaints in FY 2023–24 and averages about 1,910 a year. This is the coverage a therapist actually reaches for, and it is two orders of magnitude smaller than the headline.
A board complaint is not a lawsuit. There are no damages; the exposure is your license. Your insurer’s obligation is a reimbursement sublimit, not a duty to defend. And the two can run together: B&P § 801(b) makes your insurer report any settlement over $10,000 to the BBS within 30 days, which turns a civil matter into a board matter with your name on it.
What the law actually says
Four answers, with the code section for each.
Does the BBS require malpractice insurance?
No. Nothing in Business and Professions Code § 4980 et seq. or in 16 CCR Division 18 conditions licensure, registration or renewal on carrying professional liability insurance. The word “insurance” appears in the BBS statutes mainly as a coursework topic in law-and-ethics training.
Does a California MFT corporation have to carry it?
No — and the reason is worth knowing. B&P § 4988.2(b) gives the Board the power to require that an MFT corporation “provide adequate security by insurance or otherwise for claims against it by its patients.” The Board has never used it. 16 CCR Article 4.5 contains two live sections — corporate naming and share transfer — and nothing about insurance.
The contrast is sharp. The Board of Accountancy was given the same power and did use it: 16 CCR § 75.8 requires an accountancy corporation to carry at least $100,000 per claim per licensee, and if it does not, “each and every shareholder… shall be deemed to have agreed to be jointly and severally liable.” The liability shield goes away. No such rule exists for MFT corporations.
So who does require it?
Everyone you want to be paid by. Medi‑Cal is a real regulation — 22 CCR § 51000.30 requires enrolling providers to carry liability insurance, and DHCS sets the amount at not less than $100,000 per claim / $300,000 aggregate. Every commercial payer and platform sets its own figure by contract. And your landlord will require general liability, which is a different policy entirely.
Can an associate have private clients on the side?
No. B&P § 4980.43.3 says an associate “shall only perform mental health and related services as an employee or volunteer, and not as an independent contractor,” shall “not receive any remuneration from patients or clients,” and shall work only where the employer permits business to be conducted. So the whole “does my employer’s policy cover my own clients” question does not arise for an AMFT — there are no own clients to cover.
Who actually sets the number
Every figure below is the payer’s own published minimum.
The received wisdom is “$1M/$3M”. That is close but not exactly right, and the difference costs money. $1M per occurrence is the near-universal floor; the aggregate is $1M or $3M depending who is asking. $3M is what satisfies all of them with one policy.
| Who | Minimum | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Headway | $1M / $1M | In California. The certificate must name you individually, not just your LLC, and must be professional liability — not student, general or cyber cover. ↗ |
| Alma | $1M / $3M | Stated in their credentialing checklist. ↗ |
| Grow Therapy | $1M / $3M | The $100K/$300K California carve-out applies only to nurse practitioners. ↗ |
| Blue Shield of California | $1M / $3M | Plus a malpractice questionnaire explaining every claim, settlement and open case. ↗ |
| Cigna / Evernorth | $1M / $1M | Prescribers are held to $1M/$3M; “all other health care professionals” to $1M/$1M. ↗ |
| Optum / United | $1M / $3M | For both general and professional liability, for agency and group providers. ↗ |
| Kaiser Permanente | $1M / $3M | Organizational and community provider credentialing. ↗ |
| Medi‑Cal | $100K / $300K | The only one that is a regulation rather than a contract term. Also requires general liability. ↗ |
| Anthem Blue Cross | not published | The number lives in your individual Participating Provider Agreement, not in any public document. ↗ |
| A commercial office lease | $1M / $2M | This is general liability, and your malpractice policy will not satisfy it. The standard California AIR CRE office lease requires it on an occurrence basis with the landlord as an additional insured. ↗ |
CAQH sets no minimum. It collects your carrier, your amount and your face sheet — and has a “Not Insured” option. It is a data utility, not a standard-setter. The payer sets the number.
Your own policy, or the practice’s
Whose lawyer is it?
This is the question underneath “do I need my own policy if I am employed”, and California has a statutory answer to it. Civil Code § 2860 — the codification of Cumis — says that when a conflict of interest arises, the insurer must provide independent counsel to the insured. Under an employer’s policy, the insurer’s insured is the practice. Counsel retained by that insurer defends the practice. If the practice’s defense is “our supervision was sound, the clinician deviated”, that is a real divergence — and § 2860 protects the insured. If your name is not under “Named Insured”, you are not who it protects.
CAMFT’s own model Professional Services Agreement — the template it publishes for an organisation contracting a licensed MFT — requires the clinician, “at his or her sole expense”, to carry a minimum of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $3,000,000 aggregate, and to hand over the certificate. That is the professional association’s own contract saying you carry your own. Source ↗
The nine words that decide everything
What the terms actually mean.
Covers anything that happened while the policy was in force — forever, whoever you are insured with later. You never buy tail. Most therapist policies are written this way, including CPH, The Trust, Proliability and CM&F.
Only responds if the policy is still active when the claim is reported. Therapy claims often surface years later, so leaving, retiring or switching carriers means buying tail from the old carrier or prior-acts cover from the new one. American Professional Agency writes claims-made; Berxi offers both.
A claims-made premium starts low and climbs for six or seven years until it matures. The Trust publishes the curve for a California non-psychologist: $103 in year one, $529 at maturity. Year one is 19% of the real price, which is why a claims-made quote looks like a bargain next to an occurrence one.
Extended reporting period — what you buy to keep a claims-made policy answering after it ends. A working rule of thumb from a risk manager is 200–250% of your last annual premium; one therapist reported paying $443 for a single year of it. Several carriers waive it on death, disability or retirement.
The mirror image — buying back the retroactive date from your old carrier when you switch. CPH sells it for $175, once.
The most payable for any one claim, then the most payable for every claim in the policy year combined. $1M per occurrence is the near-universal floor; the aggregate is $1M or $3M depending who is asking, and $3M is what satisfies all of them with one policy.
Whether your legal fees come out of the $1,000,000 or sit on top of it. On the better therapist policies they sit on top — CPH says defense “will not reduce the limit of liability.” It is worth checking, because on a policy where defense erodes the limit, a long case can spend your coverage before anyone is paid.
A completely separate, much smaller pot for defending a complaint to the BBS — $5,000 to $35,000, against a $1M malpractice limit. This is the coverage you are statistically far more likely to use. See below.
Professional liability covers the therapy. General liability covers the client who slips in your waiting room. Your landlord wants the second one and will not accept the first.
The directory
Every program a California MFT can buy.
Eight programs. One of them publishes a California rate table — CPH — and that PDF was last modified in June 2023. Everything else is quote-only, which is why the reported prices matter as much as the published ones. Filter by where you are.
All 8 programs
CPH & Associates
Occurrence$320full-time California MFT, $1M/$3M, before discountsUnderwritten by Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Company and Tokio Marine Specialty Insurance Company · A++ (Superior) · limits $1M / $3M and $1M / $5M · endorsed by CAMFT and AAMFT
Seven separate therapists describe actually using CPH’s legal line — for a subpoena, a criminal-trial witness summons, a supervision question — and all seven were positive. That is the strongest single pattern in the public record, and it is exactly what HPSO’s critics say HPSO lacks.
| Published rate | Per year | At |
|---|---|---|
| Student in an accredited program | $15 | $1M/$5M only |
| AMFT / post-master’s under supervision | $90 | $1M/$3M |
| Employed, or up to 10 hrs/wk self-employed | $115 | $1M/$3M |
| Employed, or 11–20 hrs/wk self-employed | $180 | $1M/$3M |
| Employed, or over 20 hrs/wk self-employed | $320 | $1M/$3M |
Source ↗ CPH’s CAMFT application, section 2. The PDF was last modified June 2023 and CPH publishes no newer rate card — treat it as last-published, not guaranteed-current. A $10 administrative fee is added to every policy.
California: CPH rates California as its own class. Its AAMFT rate sheet prints the two side by side: a full-time California MFT is $320 where the same therapist in any other state is $246, and part-time is $180 against $123. That is a 30–46% California loading, published by the carrier. Source ↗
Discounts. 50% newly licensed year one, 25% year two, 10% for law-and-ethics CEUs, 5% for applying online. Students and associates get no discounts at all.
Your corporation. Does not cover your corporation. CPH states an individual policy “will only cover you as an individual provider and does not cover your business entity, even if you are the sole owner,” and you cannot add a company you own as an additional insured. Hiring W-2 employees forces you to a separate entity policy, priced on headcount and not published. Source ↗
- $110/yran LMFT, in a California-specific thread · Jan 2026 ↗California
- $280/yra Californian, at $1M/$3M — and $180 at $100K/$300K · Jan 2026 ↗California
- $76/yra newly licensed therapist at $1M/$5M — “I was expecting a lot more than that” · Mar 2026 ↗
- $311/yra therapist comparing against a $1,000 HPSO quote · Dec 2025 ↗
- $327/yrat $1M/$5M with cyber added · Nov 2025 ↗
- $451/yrhourly-rented office plus 1099 work, no cyber, no property · Dec 2025 ↗
- $591/yrincluding renter’s and general liability, “because my landlord requires it” · Dec 2025 ↗
- $600/yr“for my virtual and in person practice” · Dec 2025 ↗
- $70 → $300/yran LCSW, before and after forming an LLC · Jun 2025 ↗
- Does not cover discrimination claims, which a therapist found out the hard way.
- The cyber sublimit is $15,000–$25,000 and excludes ransomware — below what some 1099 contracts now require.
- Policies do not auto-renew. You reapply every year, and two lapsed or cancelled policies makes you ineligible.
- Three BBB reviews average 1.33 out of 5, including one therapist declined on reapplication after a non-renewal.
HPSO
Occurrencefrom $153the only price HPSO publishes anywhereUnderwritten by American Casualty Company of Reading, Pennsylvania, a CNA company · A+ (Superior) · limits $1M / $3M · endorsed by Many national associations; not CAMFT
Four therapists describe leaving HPSO for CPH — over the missing legal consultation, over service, over a four-month fight to add general liability. Nobody in the public record describes moving the other way. HPSO’s genuine strength is its published claim research, which therapists cite approvingly.
| Published rate | Per year | At |
|---|---|---|
| Counselors, floor rate | from $153 | not California-specific |
Source ↗ HPSO publishes no rate table by state, hours or limit. Everything else is quote-only.
Discounts. New graduate up to 60% in year one, 40% year two, 20% year three; 10% three-year risk-management discount.
Your corporation. A separate “Businesses or Practices” line with its own phone number. No premiums published. Source ↗
- $113/yra hospital-system employee carrying their own policy · Dec 2025 ↗
- $130 → $147/yrone renewal, a 13% increase · Mar 2025 ↗
- $147/yra social worker · Jun 2024 ↗
- $250/yra therapist · Dec 2025 ↗
- $1,000/yrquoted for $1M/$3M, fully virtual, one employee, Texas · Dec 2025 ↗
- $6,400/yrquoted to an LCSW in New Jersey at $1M/$3M — “I’m assuming this is some kind of mistake” · Apr 2025 ↗
- The most-upvoted structural criticism of any carrier: a therapist of ten years discovered HPSO had no legal consultation service. “Honestly I’m a little taken aback by how vulnerable I feel and how unknowingly unprotected I have been for so long.”
- A January 2026 BBB complaint alleges the license-protection benefit is a reimbursement, not a defense: “At no point did Affinity explain that the so-called ‘license protection benefit’ was merely an ancillary reimbursement benefit.”
- 23 BBB complaints in three years against the parent agency, including a bounced refund cheque and billing continuing eleven months after cancellation.
- Certificate-of-insurance delays have cost people credentialing deadlines: “BCBS gave me TWO BUSINESS DAYS to respond.”
The Trust
Occurrencenot publishedMFT premiums are quote-onlyUnderwritten by Not named on the allied-health pages. ACE American (Chubb) underwrites the psychologist program · A++ (Superior) for the psychologist program’s carrier · limits $1M / $3M standard, others on request · endorsed by State psychological associations
If you rent an office, general liability is not optional — your landlord requires it. The Trust folds it in; CPH charges $182 for it. One therapist moved to The Trust for exactly that reason and landed around $375 all in.
Source ↗ The Trust publishes rate tables for psychologists and none for the allied-health program MFTs buy under.
California: The one California data point in the public record is a psychologist, not an MFT: quoted $1,126/yr for eight hours a week of part-time practice. They went with CPH instead. Psychologist rates are not MFT rates — but The Trust does not publish MFT rates for anyone to compare. Source ↗
Discounts. 50% newly licensed, 50% part-time at 24 hours or less, 10% CE, 10% for switching carriers, 5% online — capped at 50% combined.
Your corporation. Group practices and entities may buy separate general liability limits. Not published. Source ↗
- No published price of any kind for MFTs.
- The underwriter is not named on the allied-health pages.
- The rate pages carry an effective date of 1999, which is almost certainly a stale field rather than a real date — but it means you cannot tell how current anything is.
American Professional Agency
Claims-madenot publishedthe MFT rate schedule is not on their siteUnderwritten by Allied World Insurance Company (Fairfax) · A+ (Superior) · limits up to $2M / $4M · endorsed by No association membership required
This is the only claims-made policy in the set. A claims-made premium starts low and steps up for six or seven years, and you need tail coverage to leave. The Trust’s own published table shows the shape exactly: a California non-psychologist pays $103 in year one and $529 at maturity — year one is 19% of the real price.
Source ↗ MFTs are rated in “Group 0”, which appears in no public PDF. Their mental health counselor schedule is reachable but undated and rates a different group — do not read it as MFT pricing.
Discounts. 35% part-time at 20 hours or less across all positions; 5% for three hours of risk-management CE; separate rates for W-2 employed practitioners.
Your corporation. The best answer of any carrier for an incorporated solo. Their rate schedule states a P.C. or P.A. “with no employees other than the owner qualifies for the Individual rate” — the corporation is named at no extra premium. Every other carrier surveyed either refuses the entity or sells you a second policy. Source ↗
- “They only do claims-based policies with an option to add on tail coverage at 175% of your premium, which is why they are so much cheaper than everyone else up front.”
- “Be sure that the APA rate is not a promotional rate and the cost doubles the next year.”
- A psychologist reports their consultation line assigns non-psychologists: “they can’t really help you with any ethics consultation needs.”
Berxi
Occurrence and claims-made$169Berxi’s own California sample, at $500K/$1MUnderwritten by Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company · A++ (Superior) · limits $500K/$1M up to $2M/$6M · endorsed by None — sells direct
A therapist quoted $97 against $225–375 elsewhere asked publicly whether Berxi was legitimate. Nobody answered. The underwriter is Berkshire Hathaway, which is about as solid as insurers get — the questions are about the product, not the balance sheet.
| Published rate | Per year | At |
|---|---|---|
| California counselor/therapist, full-time | $169 | $500K/$1M occurrence |
| Self-employed family/marriage counselor | $224 | $1M/$3M occurrence, Massachusetts |
| General liability, added | $150 | $1M/$1M |
Source ↗ The $169 is Berxi’s published California sample and it is at a $500,000 per-claim limit — half what Headway, Alma and most payers require. It is not comparable to the $1M/$3M prices elsewhere on this page.
Discounts. Student discounts available. No published schedule.
Your corporation. Not published. Source ↗
- “Berxi was around $130, but they told me it slowly creeps up to the ‘regular’ rate after 5 years. It was simply an intro rate.” (reported by a psychiatric NP, not a therapist — but it is a carrier-level mechanism)
- A practitioner was told Berxi “don’t support virtual practices” and could not get that confirmed in writing. If you are telehealth-only, get the answer by email before you buy.
- The headline California figure is at a $500K limit that will fail Headway, Alma and Blue Shield credentialing.
Proliability
Occurrencenot publishedquote-onlyUnderwritten by Liberty Insurance Underwriters Inc. (Liberty Mutual) · A (Excellent) · limits up to $1M / $3M · endorsed by Various associations
$100,000 a year of board defense and $50,000 of HIPAA coverage are the best numbers in this table. But not one therapist in the public record reports a Proliability price or a Proliability claim. Every report found was from a nurse, a dietitian or a music therapist.
Source ↗ No premiums published; the site blocks automated retrieval on its quote pages.
Discounts. Not published.
Your corporation. Group quote path available; media sublimits are larger for a group practice. Source ↗
- No published prices at all.
- Same parent agency as HPSO and NSO — Affinity/Aon — so the BBB complaint file above applies to it too.
CM&F Group
Occurrencenot publishedquote-onlyUnderwritten by Not named on the public page · “A++” claimed, carrier unnamed · limits $1M / $6M · endorsed by Runs the Headway provider program
CM&F runs the partner program Headway points its providers at. If you are credentialing through Headway this is the path of least friction. No therapist price reports exist for it.
Source ↗ “The rate you see is the rate you will pay based on the questions you answered.”
Discounts. Not published.
Your corporation. Not published.
- $650/yrquoted to a California S-corp nurse practitioner — against $2,500 from HPSO for the same coverage. Not a therapist · Jun 2025 ↗California
- Will not name its underwriter, while advertising that underwriter’s A++ rating.
- No therapist has publicly reported what they pay.
Lockton Affinity Health
not published$117at $500K/$500K — a quarter of the standard limitUnderwritten by Not named on the public page · not published · limits $500K/$500K up to $2M/$4M · endorsed by Association programs
$117 looks like the bargain of the table until you notice the aggregate is $500,000 where everyone else quotes $3,000,000. It does not publish its policy form, its carrier, or its board-defense sublimit.
| Published rate | Per year | At |
|---|---|---|
| Student | $20 | $500K/$500K |
| Professional | $117 | $500K/$500K |
Source ↗ Both figures are at a $500,000 aggregate. Headway, Alma, Blue Shield and Optum all require more.
Discounts. Not published.
Your corporation. Not published.
- Occurrence or claims-made is not stated anywhere. That is the single most consequential fact about a policy and it is missing.
- The underwriter is not named.
What actually happens
Six things that go wrong, and which part of the policy answers.
A complaint arrives at the Board
2,127 complaints in FY 2023–24This is the likely one. The BBS received 2,127 consumer complaints in FY 2023–24 and has averaged about 1,910 a year. Against roughly 148,000 licensees across all categories, being complained about is not rare; being disciplined is — 7 revocations, 9 surrenders and 24 probations that year.
Your board-defense sublimit, not your $1M limit. A risk manager who has handled around 800 of these says most resolve with an explanatory letter for $3,000–5,000, and that he has “not yet seen a case in which someone with their own individual liability policy has exhausted their license defense limits.” The tail risk is the contested hearing: investigations average 580 days from opening to referral, and defense counsel runs $250–500 an hour.
A subpoena for your records
the most commonly reported use of a policyNot a claim against you at all — someone else’s litigation reaching into your file. Every reported real-world use of a therapist policy in the public record is one of these, or a request for a consultation about one.
Subpoena assistance and deposition sublimits, and the attorney helpline. One therapist: “my insurance found me a lawyer who guided me through the process and I did not end up needing to send my records.” Another was subpoenaed as a fact witness in a criminal trial and had counsel prepare them. This is what people actually use the policy for.
A malpractice suit
7 reports in four years, across all BBS licenseesRare, and large. Insurers must report any settlement over $10,000 to the BBS within 30 days under B&P § 801(b). The Board received seven such reports across four fiscal years.
Your $1M/$3M limit, with defense on top on the better policies. Two things follow from that $360,000 figure: a $500,000 limit is not obviously enough, and a civil settlement over $10,000 automatically becomes a board matter with your name on it.
A client takes a session from another state
the fastest-growing claim category16 CCR § 1815.5(e) lets you treat someone in another jurisdiction only if you meet that jurisdiction’s requirements to practise there. There is no MFT compact — PSYPACT is doctoral psychologists only, and California belongs to no health licensing compact at all. § 1815.5(d)(1) makes you verbally obtain and document the client’s present location at the start of every single session, which is precisely how you find out.
Probably nothing. Coverage is granted where your license permits practice — CPH’s grant is telehealth “provided such practice is authorized or allowable under the scope of your license in the state where you practice.” A client in a hotel room in Nevada is three problems at once: unlicensed practice there, a § 1815.5(e) violation here, and very likely no cover for either.
Your supervisee makes a mistake
group-practice claims went 15.9% → 28.9% in five yearsB&P § 4980.43.1(b) defines supervision as “responsibility for, and control of, the quality of mental health and related services provided by the supervisee.” That is a broad standard, and the associate must legally be an employee — so the practice carries respondeat superior exposure and the supervisor carries a statutory one.
CPH covers supervising an associate on your individual policy — but “customers with Individual policies cannot add employees or interns to their policies. The employees or interns must take out their own policies.” The moment you have a W-2 employee you need an entity policy. Do not assume your policy covers supervision by default; it is usually a rated exposure you have to declare.
You incorporate, and get sued
the gap almost nobody checksA plaintiff suing an incorporated solo therapist names both you and the professional corporation. CPH is explicit that an individual policy “does not cover your business entity, even if you are the sole owner,” and that you cannot add a company you own as an additional insured.
The corporation defends itself out of the corporation’s assets — which defeats a fair part of the point of incorporating. American Professional Agency is the exception worth knowing about: their schedule states a P.C. with no employees other than the owner qualifies for the individual rate, so the entity is named at no extra premium.
What you need
Eight situations, and the answer for each.
A trainee still in a master’s program
Free, if you are a CAMFT student member. CAMFT gives student members professional liability cover at $1M/$3M on an occurrence form at no cost. If you are not a member, CPH charges $15 a year.
CAMFT pre-licensed dues are $95, so “free insurance” costs $95 — still the cheapest route if you want the other member benefits.
An AMFT accruing hours
$90 a year at CPH for $1M/$3M. You are legally an employee — associates cannot be independent contractors or take payment from clients — so your employer’s policy is doing most of the work.
Associates get no discounts at CPH until they are fully licensed. And the employer’s policy insures the employer: it has no reason to carry board-defense cover for your registration, because a corporation has no license for the BBS to discipline.
Newly licensed, first year on your own
About $160 at CPH — the full-time $320 with the 50% newly-licensed discount — then $240 in year two and $320 from year three. HPSO discounts new graduates harder (60/40/20% over three years) but has no legal helpline.
The discount arrives at first licensure, not at graduation, and applies at your next renewal.
Full-time solo private practice
$1M / $3M, occurrence, with defense outside the limits. Published: $320 at CPH before discounts. Californians actually report $110 to $600 depending on discounts and add-ons.
$1M per occurrence is the floor every payer wants; $3M aggregate is what satisfies all of them at once. Anything at $500,000 will fail Headway, Alma, Blue Shield and Optum credentialing.
You rent a physical office
Professional liability and general liability — two different policies covering two different things. The standard California office lease requires CGL at $1M/$2M on an occurrence basis with the landlord as an additional insured.
CPH charges $182 for GL alone, $332 with business property. The Trust and Lockton include it. Adding your landlord as an additional insured is free at CPH; every other additional insured costs 10% of your premium.
You have a Marriage and Family Therapy Corporation
Cover for the entity, not just for you. American Professional Agency names a solo-owner P.C. at the individual rate. CPH requires a separate corporate policy and does not publish its price.
Headway rejects a certificate that names only your LLC. If you move to entity-only cover you can fail credentialing — your individual name has to appear as a named insured.
You employ associates or clinicians
An entity policy. Every carrier surveyed requires one. CPH’s covers “the business, its owners, w-2 employees, and volunteers” — independent contractors are not covered, only the business’s vicarious exposure from their work.
Group-practice claims rose from 15.9% to 28.9% of the CNA counselor dataset in five years — the fastest-growing setting in the study.
Telehealth, and clients who travel
Nothing you can buy fixes this. Every carrier includes telehealth in the professional liability limit at no extra charge, and every one of them conditions it on lawful practice in the state where the client is sitting.
Document the client’s location at the start of every session — 16 CCR § 1815.5(d)(1) requires it, and it is the record the Board will read.
None of these companies pays us anything.
We checked every carrier and agency on this page for an affiliate, referral or partner program — CPH, HPSO, The Trust, Berxi, Proliability, CM&F, American Professional Agency and Lockton Affinity. Not one of them runs a public affiliate program. They all work through association endorsements negotiated one-off with professional bodies, not through publisher commissions. There is no affiliate network path to any carrier a California MFT would actually buy from: searches of Impact, CJ, ShareASale, PartnerStack, Awin, FlexOffers and Refersion return no healthcare-professional malpractice carrier at all.
Which means there is nothing to disclose here, and no reason to doubt the ordering above. The programs that do pay publishers — Hiscox at $25 a quote, Thimble, Simply Business, Insureon — are general small-business insurers, and we could not verify that any of them writes licensed mental-health professional liability at all. Recommending them to a therapist for malpractice cover would be wrong on the merits whatever it paid.
How this page was built. Every premium is either published by the carrier, with the link, or reported by a named person in a post you can open. Nothing is estimated. Where a carrier does not publish a price, the card says “not published” rather than carrying a guess — five of the eight do not.
One correction worth making, because it is repeated constantly. You will read that CPH and HPSO sell the same CNA policy and you should just pick the cheaper agent. For the MFT program that is wrong: the CPH application sold through CAMFT and AAMFT names Philadelphia Indemnity and Tokio Marine Specialty as the insurers on its signature page. HPSO’s policies are underwritten by CNA. They are different carriers.
This is not legal or insurance advice. We are not brokers, we are not lawyers, and nobody on this page pays us anything. Read your own declarations page — the answers to occurrence-versus-claims-made, who is a named insured, and what your board-defense sublimit is are all on it.
