Working together with a reputable insurance broker gives you peace of mind and confidence that your insurances are in order, and no stone is left unturned in ensuring you have the correct cover.
This goes from arranging the insurance policies, to recommending necessary additional cover year-on-year, and also safeguarding that you are complying with new legislation, as it arises.
The partnership created with an insurance broker also provides added security that your insurance would actually be valid if you were to make a claim.
With the detailed Terms & Conditions that are notorious with insurance, this is absolutely key.
Whilst this topic isn’t glamorous in any way, it is of high importance for those responsible for correctly insuring your business, and it directly impacts on all insurance policyholders. Therefore, it may be appropriate to also share this information with your Practice Manager, if you have one.
The Insurance Act 2015: What has changed?
The law that governs commercial insurance changed in August 2016, for the first time in over 100 years.
The changes overall are seen as a positive step for policyholders, to assist in making the claim process fairer.
Historically, there have been incidences where claims have not been covered due to “non-disclosure of a material fact”, despite that the policyholder could not reasonably have been expected to actually know of this material fact.
The new system is moving away from the “all material facts must be disclosed” to “material facts that the policyholder ought to know must be disclosed”.
Insurance brokers still have a duty to gather as much information from you, the policyholder, about risk variables, so that an insurance company has a clear picture of who and what they are insuring and under what terms.
There may be additional questions your insurer asks to ensure that all reasonable grounds have been covered.
They may:
-
Ask more detailed questions, specifically about risk areas
-
Explain further what is meant by disclosing all material items which are “known or ought to be known”
As the policy holder you are now required to:
-
Disclose anything you think is material to arranging the insurance
-
Disclose any information that can be revealed by a reasonable search
-
Disclose any other relevant matters, and if in any doubt, it needs to be disclosed
It is not necessary to inform the broker, or insurer, of factors that could possibly reduce the risk, only factors that could increase it. Also, matters of common knowledge do not need to be disclosed.
Examples – old system versus new
Scenario
John buys a dental practice (inc the building) and on the insurance questionnaire is asked if any neighbouring properties are suffering from subsidence, or have ever suffered from subsidence. He answers no. The buildings survey carried out during the purchase process does not pick up that the next door property has actually got a subsidence issue on the rear-side which is also out of view from reasonable, physical eye-sight. 6 months later the walls of his dental practice start to crack and when the insurer sends a loss adjuster they discover the neighbour did already have a subsidence issue.
Old system
The insurers refuse to cover the claim as a result that the material information was not disclosed.
New system
As the client could not have been expected to know about the neighbours subsidence issue, the claim is covered.
Practical changes to organising your insurance
From a practical perspective, it is important to understand that organising your insurance may now take a little longer than usual.
This is because of the additional time required in up-front communications between yourself, or your Practice Manager, and your insurance representative here at All Med Pro. In addition, there needs to be care and attention when you gather any supporting documents that are requested as a natural part of the new process.
It is therefore essential to allow more time when renewing any existing insurance policies, so they can seamlessly fit together without any period where your practice is uninsured.
All Med Pro continue to work with medical and dental practices, as well as other healthcare providers, to ensure that the changes made to the Insurance Act 2015 are complied with in the simplest way possible for you, whilst maintaining the highest quality insurance products.
Our in-house systems have been adapted to comply with regulations and our experienced advisers can guide you thought the process, answering any questions you may have along the way.
