Medical Insurance Consultants

Articles

• Practice Management May 2010
• Primary Care Scotland May 2010
• Practice Business May 2010
• Primary Business Today February 2009
• Scottish Primary Care September 2008
• Practice Management January 2008
• Practice Management July/August 2007

NewsLetters

• April 7th 2008 Locum Insurance With A 10% Discount
• May 16th 2008 Insurance Matters
• October 13th 2008 MIC match and discount on Surgery, Locum and Home Insurance
• September 7th 2009 PCT Contract Bids Information

The Proof Of The Pudding

Making any sense of locum insurance cover at present is like trying to herd cats into a corner.  You have decided what type of cover you want, received the three quotations you thought were the best, put all the details on a spreadsheet, tried to squeeze the premium to get the same cover, thought you could get it cheaper with buying groups/website.  Eventually you make a decision and walk the fine line between cost and cover.  You have now got it all worked out, job done.  Nothing can go wrong can it? Only when you make a claim will you discover how good a job has been done; this is the same with all insurance policies.

Putting details on a spreadsheet is a difficult task, getting all the correct sections of the policy together and then wondering (as an example) whether bereavement cover is included in the anxiety and depression section throws another spanner in the works. This is when you need to read the policy document. Getting the quotation you requested together with a sheet of paper with questions and answers on it is not the answer.  You need to see exactly what you are signing up to.  When buying locum insurance cover there is one golden rule; read the policy wording and do not rely on sales people telling you what you are covered for.

Let me just bring to your attention a few crucial points that you should be looking for.

A pre existing condition exclusion clause means that any condition or associated condition is excluded from the cover permanently or for a period of time. If you see this in a policy wording the premium will be cheaper and it could cost the practice a lot of money if a claim is turned down. However, insurers have refined this type of exclusion. You will now be able to be insured for a condition so long as you didn’t have more than, say, five days off in the last two years. This seems fine, but what if you have a condition covered and then you make a claim? Will the condition now be excluded until a further two years go by and you haven’t had more than five days off due to the condition? It is food for thought.  With this type of policy you will usually find the application has very few questions about medical history. If you are a betting man this is definitely the policy for you.

The period you can claim for is quite confusing. There are in fact ‘two claim periods’. The first is the maximum number of weeks that a claim will be paid. This is usually 52 weeks less the deferment period that is chosen when the policy commenced, but this can vary dependent on the section of the policy that is being claimed under.  The second is how long you have to make a claim.  Confused? Let me give an example: Doctor A has a locum insurance policy where he has 12 months to claim from the date that a condition manifested itself. Doctor A puts in a claim in January 2008 for, say, a back condition and is off work for eight weeks and the claim is paid.  In June 2009 Dr A is again off for the same condition and is again off work for eight weeks and this time the claim is declined.  Why? Doctor A only had until December 31, 2008 (12 months from when the condition first manifested itself). Recurring conditions will not be covered.

There is a misconception that if by joining a buying club/website and/or getting large discounts on any surgery insurance cover it must be the best deal available but this is not always the case.  When something appears to be too good to be true, it probably is.

Don’t fall for the old trick of sales people trying to sell you locum insurance cover over the telephone by telling you what you want to hear, and telling you they can put you on cover straight away and then send you all the 'confirmation paper work’ in a few days.

The golden rule when buying insurance is: read the policy document.  The wrong type of cover could cost you thousands of pounds in locum fees. 

Author: John Downing (Managing Director - MIC)

Publication: Practice Management May 2010 pg.28