Like all businesses, running a private practice comes with certain risks. Business insurance is designed to protect you from these risks, but knowing how to get started can be difficult.
With our partner Superscript, we’ve designed this handy guide to walk you through the basics – helping you get covered and confidently run your practice.
When should I get business insurance?
It’s never too early to think about insurance, as you can be exposed to risks before your business is fully up and running.
For example, before you start seeing clients, you’ll need the right equipment – furniture, a laptop, treatment tables, etc. There’s a chance that this equipment could get lost, damaged or stolen before you’ve even booked your first appointment.
What insurance do I need?
Whether you specialise in counselling, psychotherapy, physiotherapy, or speech therapy, clinicians face specific risks.
You come into regular contact with members of the public, and the nature of your work is often very hands-on. You should therefore think about:
- Medical malpractice insurance can protect you against allegations of medical negligence in the treatments or advice you provide, such as misdiagnosis.
- Public liability insurance: if you accidentally cause an injury to a member of the public or damage their property during your work, public liability insurance can cover the cost of compensation claims.
- Professional indemnity insurance: if a client loses money due to mistakes you’ve made, this cover can pay your legal costs and compensation awarded to the client.
You might also want to consider some more general covers, such as:
- Contents and equipment insurance: this can pay for repairs or replacements if your essential kit gets lost, damaged or stolen. It can cover items that stay in your practice and portable tools like laptops and smartphones.
- Employers’ liability insurance: A legal requirement for most businesses that employ staff – whether full- or part-time, paid or volunteers, permanent or on fixed contracts.
Key terminology: premiums, covers, limits and excess
If you’ve taken out any kind of insurance for a holiday, car or pet, you’re likely to have come across words like ‘premium’, ‘cover’, ‘limit’ and ‘excess’. You’ll also find these terms in a business insurance policy. But what do they actually mean?
Premium
Put simply, a premium is the amount you pay for your insurance policy. With some providers, you’ll pay for a whole year’s cover up front. Other providers, like Superscript, offer monthly payment options at no extra cost.
Premiums are affected by several different factors, so the key to getting the right insurance is to find a balance between getting enough protection from all the relevant risks without setting your premiums unnecessarily high.
Covers
Business insurance policies are made up of different products, known as covers, that protect you from different types of risks.
Some risks are shared by most businesses, so the corresponding covers are relevant for almost everyone. On the other hand, some covers are only relevant for certain industries or businesses that carry out specific work.
Limits
A limit is the maximum amount your insurer will pay if you make a successful claim. When you take out insurance, you can typically choose from a few limit options. And because different covers usually have different limits, you could end up with a policy that contains multiple limits.
Excess
If you make a successful claim, you may have to pay a certain amount towards that claim. This amount is known as excess.
For example, you pay £10 a month for a cover that has a £1,000 limit and a £100 excess. You make a successful claim for £950. You need to pay the first £100, and your insurer will pay the remaining £850.
Which insurer is right for me?
When choosing a provider for your business insurance, a little research goes a long way. Some of the main factors to consider include:
- Range of cover: Some insurers provide more general business insurance covers, while others might be able to provide more specialist insurance that meets your unique needs as a clinician.
- Reviews: Customer experiences can offer useful insight into what an insurer does well (and not so well…)
- Regulation: UK insurers are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and you should be able to find evidence of this on an insurer’s site. You should also look for regulatory ratings – a score of A or higher from A.M. Best, Lloyd’s, S&P or Fitch suggests that the provider can be trusted.
- Contact and support: Some people prefer to send an email, while others like to pick up the phone. Look out for insurers that can be contacted in a way that works for you.
Insurance for clinicians from Superscript
With Superscript’s flexible, customisable insurance for healthcare professionals, you can take only what you need – a little or a lot, it’s your choice.
Plus, you can adjust your cover up or down without any admin fees.
Get started with a personalised quote from Superscript in just 4 minutes, or get fully insured in 10.
Superscript is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
