It pays to shop around.

Protecting your practice

The wide range of challenges we are still facing has led to a change in day-to-day work priorities and hence has increased the potential for people to take their eye off the ball when it comes to things like insurance renewals.

Ironically, the added pressures we are facing may mean insurance reviews are put on hold, at a time they are more relevant than ever before. Such challenging times have been the catalyst for great change, so it is precisely the right time to undertake an insurance review to accommodate our new ways of working.

With a shift to remote working, and growing incidences of cybercrime, practices need to take fresh look at their cover needs. In addition, the increasing possibility of long-term absence from work means that locum cover is a further consideration to be reviewed.

The statistics speak for themselves.

Of the 72 reviews we have conducted during the last month alone, (March 2021) over 36% of practices were underinsured, nearly 85% of practices had incorrect or missing material facts and half of those reviewed requested quotes for additional protection, including cyber and locum cover.

Case Study

Wendy Calder has been a practice manager at two Scottish practices for nearly 3 years. Whilst based in the same building, the practices have very different ways of operating and keep Wendy very busy.

So, when it came to looking at their insurance, Wendy was initially happy to simply renew with the incumbent insurance provider that she inherited. However, at her last renewal Wendy was not convinced the policy represented the best cover option. Not least because several factors within the practice had changed. With 2 weeks to go before the policy was due to renew, Wendy decided to shop around. Not having the time for an actual meeting, it was something she wanted to sort out over the phone.

“I wanted an insurance policy that met the practice’s needs and not what an insurance company thought I needed,” Wendy explained.

Wendy had seen us at a conference previously, and decided to give us a call, two weeks before her renewal date was due. She was certainly impressed. “James certainly knew what he was talking about and was very knowledgeable. He was very slick and it was simply a case of answering questions which made the whole process very easy, which was great as I am normally up against it timewise.”

Contents changes

“I had a rough idea on value of our contents from our previous insurer, but the cost to replace things has gone up dramatically. Index linking alone would not cover it. Plus, we have replaced computers, additional desks, chairs and manual couches with electric ones, which are of substantial value. I am undertaking a stock check process to assess if the amount we are insured against covers the cost of replacing the items.

We also reviewed our Locum cover. Our Previous insurance policy paid a flat rate per partner regardless of how many sessions they covered, this had not been reviewed for a number of years or reflected increased locum rates. This new cover looks at the number of sessions for which cover is needed and the average rate for a locum. Locum cover is important as we had two partners on maternity leave recently.

Not only was the cover optimised but James managed to halve our premiums. I have total peace of mind now that we are properly covered at half the price! I am so glad that I checked”.

Wendy Calder
Practice Manager
Annat Bank and Townhead Practices
Montrose