Medical malpractice insurance

If you provide healthcare services that could harm or injure another person, you’re legally required to have appropriate malpractice (or indemnity) cover.

Depending on your role, you may have some cover if you work with NHS patients. You can check this with your NHS employer or refer to the GMC for further guidance.

You can also get in touch with our team, and we’ll be able to assess your needs and find a policy on your behalf.

If you’re in the healthcare industry, we can help you find cover. Some of the professions we support include:

• Hospital Doctors
• Private GPs
• Surgeons
• Healthcare Consultants
• Online Doctors and eHealth Services
• Physiotherapists
• Psychiatrists
• Ophthalmologists
• Occupational Health Therapists

We can also provide cover for private businesses, including GP practices, healthcare clinics and hospitals.

The insurers we work with provide policies for UK residents. However, if you do some work outside of the UK, we may still be able to find cover for you from one of our specialist insurers.

If you’re a self-employed healthcare professional or you’re required to have personal cover under any contracts, you should get cover for yourself.

If you own a business, employ both clinical and non-clinical staff and personally provide healthcare treatment, you may prefer to get business indemnity cover. For example, GP surgery insurance.

These dual policies offer protection for yourself, your employees and your surgery. Your policy can include liability cover, legal expenses, accidental damage and more.

With no two policies the same, how much you can expect to pay will depend on a few factors:

• Your specialism
• Your turnover (if you own a medical business)
• Your claims history
• Your professional experience
• Your risk exposure
• Your level of cover

When you get in touch for a quote, we’ll ask you to complete a short questionnaire to gather this information. We’ll then reach out to our panel of insurers to find you a quote.

Whether your day-to-day duties change, or you take on a new role, you can adjust your cover as and when you need. You can get in touch with us and we’ll change your policy.

Defence organisations offer protection against claims and complaints, but they typically can’t compete with the level of protection offered by malpractice insurance policies. For example, they often don’t cover claims of discrimination, defamation cover or loss of earnings.

It’s worth noting that MDOs aren’t FCA approved, meaning their policies aren’t subject to the same level of scrutiny as insurers.

Whether you choose to take out a malpractice insurance policy is ultimately up to you and your needs. If you’d like advice, you can speak to a member of our team.

While they’re both forms of liability insurance, there are some key differences between medical malpractice and professional indemnity insurance.

For example, professional indemnity insurance is available to all professions. It offers general cover for professional negligence, breach of trust and more. 

Medical malpractice insurance on the other hand is designed specifically for healthcare professionals. That means it protects you while you provide treatment to patients. 

Policy features are more closely related to your line of work, including cover for surgical mistakes and medical errors.

You might be sued by a patient or their family if your actions caused harm, injury or death. 

For example:

• You misdiagnosed a patient leading to incorrect care or treatment options
• You made a mistake during surgery that caused further harm
• Your care or treatment of a patient is perceived as negligent

If you’re found to be at fault, medical malpractice insurance will cover any payouts you’re obligated to make.

Unfortunately, we can’t arrange cover for medical students. It’s likely that you’ll have cover provided by your medical school.

If you’re planning an elective, you might be interested in taking out medical elective travel insurance.