How much do you know about medical indemnity insurance? In this article for doctors, we’ll bring you up to speed.
To begin with, you should already know that medical indemnity insurance is mandatory for practicing doctors in Australia.
Let’s take a moment to review some of the other reasons you need medical indemnity insurance.
Benefits of Medical Indemnity Insurance
At some point in your career, a patient may lodge a claim of negligence, medical error or omission against you in the event that something goes wrong with their care.
Medical indemnity insurance may cover your legal expenses and any or some of the amount you may be compelled to pay in compensation to someone who lodges a claim against you.
Medical indemnity insurance strictly applies to you in the context of your typical workplace. It doesn’t protect your business entity or any employees you may have. It’s also different from personal medical indemnity which covers you outside of your practice if you have the chance to work or volunteer in public.
How Indemnity Insurance Works
Medical indemnity is a kind of long-tail insurance. This means that years can pass between your period of coverage and the point in time at which a claim is settled.
Premiums for medical indemnity insurance are typically based upon your location, work history and history of any previous litigation, your area of practice or specialty and how much you typically earn.
How to Get the Best Deal on Indemnity Insurance
Even if you already have medical indemnity insurance it’s good to keep an eye out for the next best deal. There’s almost always a more flexible plan out there so there’s no need to feel that you must stick with the same provider indefinitely.
You may be entitled to a price break on indemnity insurance if you’re a new doctor. You can also qualify for discounts by proactively maintaining your credentials with continuing education. A current practitioner who always seeks to widen his or her skills and knowledge is at a lower risk for litigation and insurers gladly reward that kind of initiative.
There are two main ways indemnity insurance applies, depending on the plan you choose. Either your coverage will be claim-incurred or claim-made.
Claim-incurred means that as long as the incident under question happened during your period of coverage then you’ll be covered. Sometimes, patients come back years after you treated them and claim damages.
Claim-made coverage is dependent on when the patients lodge the claim. If someone brings a case against you, your insurance will only help out if the claim itself is made during your period of coverage.
While weighing up your options, it is crucial to get the best possible advice. Nitschke Nancarrow are not only specialist accounting and financial planners for medical professionals, we also find the best insurance deals for our clients.
Contact Nitschke Nancarrow managing partner Kym Nitschke for a free initial discussion about your situation. Call us on (08) 8379 9950 or send me an email.
– Kym Nitschke
The information contained on this web site is general in nature and does not take into account your personal situation. You should consider whether the information is appropriate to your needs, and where appropriate, seek professional advice from a financial adviser.
Taxation, legal and other matters referred to on this website are of a general nature only and are based on Nitschke Nancarrow’s interpretation of laws existing at the time and should not be relied upon in place of appropriate professional advice. Those laws may change from time to time.
Nitschke Nancarrow specialises in accounting, tax and financial advice for superannuation. Contact us now for a no obligations discussion about your needs.
