Insurance
Professional Indemnity insurance is vital in today’s litigious society. Indemnity insurance will protect you against claims of professional negligence.
There are two ways when working as a locum to be insured:
- through the practice
- insuring yourself ( preferable)
Through the practice
If asked most practices will put you on the insurance that they use to cover their permanent staff, for the duration that you are there. Should you require to be covered by their insurance, please ask them to do this prior to starting, so that you are covered from day one of your locum.
Disadvantages
The disadvantages of this method, is that should a claim be made after you leave, as you will no longer be working for that practice, you will no longer be covered by their insurance.
Similarly, some practices are reluctant to place you as the named insured person whilst the permanent member of staff is away .Should a claim be made against this permanent member of staff in their absence, whilst you are essentially ‘replacing’ them as the named insured person, they will not be legally covered by that insurance.
Generally claims of alleged professional negligence will be covered, however, should the claim be investigated or reported to the RCVS, it becomes a grey area and is classified as personal , and may not be covered by the practices' insurance.
Insuring yourself:
There are many insurances out there. Many vets and vet practices rely on an organisation called the VDS( veterinary defence society).The insurance cost ( premium) varies according to the indemnity level ( cover) you choose. The cost can vary between roughly £450 for a £100 000 indemnity limit, to £3,800 for a £2,000,000 indemnity limit.
The insurance provider you choose should be able to recommend a suitable level of insurance for you.
At present, the VDS, recommends that an entry level indemnity limit should be sufficient for locums. This varies at roughly between £450 to £650 per year for indemnity levels between £100,000 to £200,000.You can however insure for more if you so choose.
Advantages
Advantages of insuring yourself is that you will be covered in almost all eventualities, and should you be doing many locums, short and long term ones, you need not worry about being covered, or sorting out cover for one or two days, or however long the locum may be…
Contact details for the VDS:
Tel: +44(0) 1565 652737
Being self-insured is preferable,safest, and advisable!
Note: the above is meant as a general overview of the situation. It is recommended that you seek professional advice from a registered insurance provider familiar with professional cover.
