Has Anyone Ever USED Their Malpractice Insurance?

I was reading the thread about the disappointing visit to the BON and this gives rise for another discussion for me. Has anyone ever used their malpractice insurance? Did it really save money, or did you still have to pay an attorney out of your own pocket? I am curious because it makes me wonder...NSO doesn't charge too much, just under $100 a year, but does that really help us when we are in trouble, or does it just make us feel comfortable to have it?

I am a nursing student currently, but have worked in the insurance industry for 23 years. The company I have worked for has an endorsement for Nurse's Professional Liablity, which gives you coverage equivalent to whatever your homeowner's liability is. For example, if you have $100k the NPL will be $100k. The cost is pretty minimal, like $25-$50/yr. I am sure that most of the other major companies also have such an endorsement. If you are concerned with going through the BON in your state, call your home insurer and ask them if they carry such an endorsement.

I hope you are using the $100k figure as an example, and not as the amount of insurance you carry -- that is a very low figure for liability coverage. I've never seen a nursing personal liability policy for less than a few million $$ a year coverage (a typical level of coverage these days is $1,000,000/$6,000,000 -- that is, (up to) $1 million per occurrence up to a max of six occurrences a year). My homeowner's coverage is nowhere near that much, and I would never settle for as little nursing liability coverage as I have on my homeowner's insurance ...

Also, I've never checked with my homeowner's policy company, because I'm more comfortable dealing with a company that specializes in dealing with professional liability coverage for nurses. However, there are others on this board who have commented in the past that they carry their nursing liability coverage as a rider on their homeowner's insurance.