Insurance
Going on the feedback received from a number of therapists it has become clear that some professional associations that offer insurance to their members are, in fact, introducers to insurance brokers and make it a condition of membership to have their preferred insurer provide insurance. The insurance offered is often a block scheme or group cover and is a win for the professional association and the insurance company working together. Therapists we talked to felt it was unfair to dictate who should provide their cover and expressed a wish for independent choice.
Who is IAAPT?
IAAPT is the INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF ALTERNATIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND THERAPY COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY. Read more here about the history. As a Community Interest Company (CIC) it has no shareholders and its
purpose is not profit driven.
Community interest companies (CIC) are a type of limited company designed specifically for those wishing to operate
for the benefit of the community rather than for the benefit of the owners of
the company. This means that a CIC cannot be formed or used solely for the personal
gain of a particular person, or group of people.
This is achieved by a "community interest test" and "asset lock", which ensures that the CIC is established for
community purposes, and the assets and profits are dedicated to these purposes.
Registration of a “CIC” company has to be approved by the Regulator, who also
has a continuing monitoring and enforcement role.
IAPPT was established as a
CIC company on 30 April 2008 to provide information to the buying community,
to regulate Therapists and to supply information on the different pathways to
health. In honouring the commitment to provide information to the public the
IAAPT publish details about Therapists in the UK, providing information that
relates to feedback IAAPT has received regarding their competence and qualification
to practice, as well as their insurance status.
The IAAPT Complementary Health
Register is maintained at http://camregulator.com. In order to show a Therapist
as fully regulated, IAAPT require information on qualification, competence and
insurance. Therapists are not removed from the register on request, unless there
is evidence that they have ceased to practice. IAAPT cannot force a Therapist
to provide the information. If they knowingly withhold their information we
have to assume they therefore do not agree with our aims and do not agree that
the public have a right to know. Registration is free.
Insurance – an important and necessary part of the regulatory requirement
Therapists provide professional services to customers/clients/patients. There is no regulated profession in the world where Professional Insurance is not mandatory. And it is so for some very simple reasons. It is because we are human, and we can make mistakes. We do not want to, we do not mean to and we certainly do not intend to, but we could. Hands up if you have never made a mistake.If we accept that we could make a mistake (as difficult that is for most of us to accept) who should take the financial strain? Should it be the customer, the Therapist or the specialist in taking the financial strain, i.e. an insurer?
If the claim were modest, say a few hundred or a few thousand pounds you may feel you could take that strain. What if it were hundreds of thousands of pounds? Could you cope with that?
IAAPT - The Complementary Health Register and Insurance
IAAPT have negotiated a very high quality insurance product for Therapists with leading insurers. IAAPT do not sell insurance. Our relationship with the leading insurers is in regards to the provision of the Complementary Health Register (CHR) database and functionality. By working together this enables us to strive to protect the public and confirms Therapist qualifications, memberships and insurance very quickly and thereby helps to prevent fraud.The professional cover for Therapists
Not all insurance policies are the same; please be careful to find out exactly what you are really covered for, most Therapists we ask actually do not know; they just say "It’s through my professional association and I think I’m covered." It all seems fine until you get a “notification of proceedings” against you and then your professional association simply point out "We can’t help you with advice; you need to contact the insurance provider!"Should you decide to move to another professional association they may not have the same insurer, and the terms could be quite different. We suggest you should have professional insurance through the provider you select and not one selected for you.
How much does IAAPT make on the insurance?
IAAPT receives no commission on insurance, is not an introducer for insurance and receives no money or funding from any insurance company.The register invites Therapists to register or confirm (and update) information already held. The CHR is a collaborative live database that receives data every day, and as far as we know is the only one of its kind in the world. The CHR shows the up-to-date position regarding qualification, competence and insured status of a Therapist when the register is viewed.
Professional Malpractice
First and foremost insurance protection against your professionalism in treatment. This covers a valid claim that you did something you should not have done or did NOT do something you should have. This type of claim can really only come from a client or their representative.
Public Liability
This type of claim can actually come from anyone, the claim being that a loss was suffered as a result of something influenced by you whilst you were about your business. Even something as simple as “carpet trip”.
Product Liability
Accidental Injury to any third party or accidental loss of or damage to third party Property caused by a defect in Products.
Professional Liability
Errors & Omissions
Financial Loss to third parties caused by any negligent act, error or omission committed by the Insured in or about the conduct of their business as stated in the proposal.
Confidentiality
Breach of professional confidentiality in or about the conduct of their occupation or business as stated in the proposal form or declaration
Libel & Slander
Actual or alleged defamation, libel or slander committed without animosity by reason of words written or uttered by the assured in or about the conduct of their occupation or business.
Dishonesty
Actual or alleged dishonest or fraudulent acts or omissions of a Principal
Intellectual Property
Infringement or alleged infringement of copyright, trademarks, registered designs or patents.
The issues listed above are what is expected to be included in a Professional Indemnity insurance contract.
There are however many instances where claims and /or issues can arise against you that falls outside of those issues listed above, and that is set out below in Section 2.
What needs to be covered?
Section 2:
Essential Business Legal Insurance provides legal services and insurance. It will cover the legal costs if you are involved in certain legal disputes and provide Legal & Tax Advice. In the event of a legal or tax problem there is a confidential 24 hour legal advice and our 9 – 5 tax advice service which we provide to you as part of this policy; the only cost to you is a standard rate call. The advice covers any business legal or tax matter and you can use this service as often as you like. Your query will be dealt with by a suitably qualified specialist experienced in handling a range of legal and tax related matters.
Tax Protection
a) a formal aspect or full enquiry into your business tax affairs
b) any appeal proceeding following an assessment by HM Revenue & Customs relating to Value Added Tax
c) a dispute about your compliance with regulations relating to, Pay As You Earn, or Social Security, or National Insurance Contributions following a review by HM Revenue and Customs
d) a formal aspect or full enquiry.
Compliance & Regulation
a) defending the Insured when dealing with the Police or Health & Safety Executive prior to the Insured being charged
b) defending the Insured following an event leading to the Insured being prosecuted in court of criminal jurisdiction except for a parking offence
c) representing you following a notice by the relevant authority to alter, suspend, revoke or refuse to renew your statutory licence
d) appealing against the terms of a Statutory Notice served against you e) representing the Insured at a formal investigation or disciplinary hearing by any trade association, professional or regulatory body.
Contract & Debt Recovery
A breach or alleged breach of an agreement or alleged agreement which has been entered into by you or on your behalf relating to the purchase, hire, hire purchase, lease, servicing, maintenance, testing, sale or provision of goods or services.
Set out above is a brief summary of the description of the combined cover.
Please refer to the policy wording for the precise and exact terms.
If you are insured already you might like to check if you are covered for fitness to practice, regulatory proceedings, and HRMC investigations.And finally:
You can see that IAAPT has negotiated with expert advisors a unique cover that
you can now purchase. You can purchase during the registration process or separately
at any other time. The insurance is an individual policy and the total premium
cost starts at just over £50. Application is a fully automated process over
the Internet.
Please remember that in order to meet the full IAAPT regulatory responsibility
you must be able to show you are qualified, competent and insured.
Want to know more? Just
click here and you will be redirected to the right page.
Registration with us does not mean you have to buy this insurance, only that
you should have insurance; further you do not have to belong to a professional
association to obtain this insurance. Quotations available immediately at a
few clicks of the mouse. You can purchase this insurance at any time just click
on this link.
Please note that decisions regarding registration status are independently made
by us without any reference to or being influenced by, any commercial interest,
and is based ONLY upon the information we hold.
Click Registration Got a question? We will be pleased to arrange for you to
have an answer. The answer will be provided by an insurance professional and
not IAAPT or the Register. Send us your question. Our professional colleagues
will NOT provide advice as to what you should or should not do. But they will
do their very best to provide an answer in plain English. Please remember it
is unfair to ask them to make a judgement on the cover you have or comment on
the quality of an insurer. But they do promise to provide an honest, fair and
even- handed answer to a sensible question. Send your query to questions@iaapt.net
This article has been provided for your information and does not represent formal
financial advice. It does however make the recommendation that Therapists should
be professionally insured for the benefit of their clients (and themselves),
and insurance is a mandatory element within this regulation. IAAPT are concerned
that Therapists should know exactly what they are insured for. And even more
worrying that many are not insured at all. We hope this article will encourage
those many Therapists not properly insured to obtain high quality insurance
cover, and all of those who are insured to understand better the exact terms
of their cover.