What insurance should healthcare companies have?

Healthcare organisations face many risks, such as potential misdiagnoses, incorrect prescriptions, data breaches etc, which can all leave you open to a claim. If a claim is made against you or you are faced with large legal fees, having adequate insurance in place will be vital in protecting the longevity of your business.

The type of insurance you have in place will largely depend on your business and the nature of services you provide. But there are a few insurance products that all healthcare companies should have.

Let’s take a closer look at some of these.

1. Public and Employers’ Liability

The Health and Safety Executive’s Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 means that you must have insurance in place if you employ one or more people, unless they are related to you and you do not operate as a limited company, or you employ someone who is based abroad.

Employers’ Liability will protect your business financially if one of your employees gets injured as a result of business activities e.g., injuries from slips, trips and falls.

While Public Liability is not a legal requirement, it covers your legal liability to pay compensation to third parties in the event of death, bodily injury, or damage to their property, which occurs as a result of your business activities. It also covers people visiting your premises.

2. Medical Malpractice Insurance

Professional mistakes in the healthcare sector such as misdiagnoses, surgical errors and incorrect drug prescriptions can result in large legal defence costs, along with the cost of any compensation the business must pay if the case is lost. It is also a legal requirement for anyone offering professional regulated medical healthcare services in the UK.

That’s why robust Medical Malpractice Insurance is vital for your healthcare business. Medical Malpractice Insurance protects you against claims alleging negligence or a breach of professional duty, which result in a negative impact on your patient, whether from medical treatment or advice. This can include misdiagnosis, injury, delays in referral, physical or mental harm or abuse.

It will protect you against financial loss and reputational damage that may occur as a result of a claim against you and covers legal fees, costs associated with defending the claim and any compensation that may be payable.

To find out more about the benefits of Medical Malpractice Insurance, click here.

3. Cyber Liability

Technology has rapidly developed over the past decade, resulting in a switch to automatic and paperless systems for many businesses. Healthcare businesses are no exception to this, with everything from appointment scheduling to billing being digitalised. This can bring advantages like making your clinical workflow more efficient and convenient, but it also brings the risk of cyber vulnerability.

This can be a concern for businesses operating in the healthcare sector as they tend to hold a large volume of complex data, and this data is highly attractive to cyber criminals. In fact, according to Agari, a company dedicated to email security, 67% of healthcare businesses in the UK have experienced a cyber security incident within the past 12 months.

That’s why having cyber security practices in place, along with a robust Cyber Liability Insurance policy, is vital to keep your business running as smoothly as possible. Cyber Liability Insurance can assist with the financial consequences of:

• Data recovery
• Business interruption
• Legal costs
• Meeting ransom demands
• Costs around informing clients of the breach
• Restoring equipment

To find out how you can mitigate the cyber risk in your healthcare business click here.

We can arrange insurance for medical practitioners, surgeons, dentists, and GPs. We have partnered with a carefully selected panel of A rated insurers, to allow us to offer insurance solutions that will provide complete peace of mind.

As an independent commercial insurance broker, we provide impartial advice so you can be confident that the cover we recommend will meet your needs.

To speak to an expert adviser, please call 01480 272727, or send an email to enquiries@barnesinsurancebroker.co.uk