What type of policies do we provide to IBMS members?

What type of policies do we provide to IBMS members?

As a Biomedical Scientist, having the correct level of insurance is imperative. Due to the many different variations of job role that a Biomedical Scientist may be working in, there therefore needs to be variations of insurance policy to suit these roles.

The policy options that are available to members of the IBMS via our website, and a breakdown of what is covered under each section is provided below:

Employed within the NHS

If you are in full-time employment within the NHS, any complaint for negligent or poor treatment made against you to the NHS, will be covered by the NHS’ indemnity arrangements and under these circumstances, you do not need to buy cover for yourself.

However, if the complaint made against you is made to The Health Care and Professions Council (HCPC), or the regulatory body of the NHS, the Professional Indemnity cover provided by the NHS will not meet the costs associated with defending and representing you at any disciplinary hearing. Our Professional Indemnity policy will provide you with cover for this and claims that might arise out of Good Samaritans Acts (subject to policy terms and conditions).

This difference between this Professional Indemnity policy and our legal expenses (fitness to practice) insurance is that our Professional Indemnity cover will defend cases of a clinical nature reported to your professional and/or regulatory body, whereas the legal expenses (fitness to practice) policy covers disciplinary issues outside of clinical negligence.

In some cases, your contract of employment may require you to buy your own professional liability policy, including cover for errors and omissions by you and, in these circumstances, we can provide you with full cover as requested (subject to acceptability).

Employed within the Private Sector

If you are in full-time employment within private sector, any complaint for negligent or poor treatment made against you to your employer, should be covered by their Professional Indemnity insurance and under these circumstances, you do not need to buy cover for yourself. For your own comfort, you should check with your employer to make sure that you are covered under their Professional Indemnity insurance and their insurance is paid in full.

However, in the event a complaint made against you is made to The Health Care and Professions Council (HCPC), or another regulatory or professional body, your employer’s Professional Indemnity insurance will probably not meet the costs associated with defending and representing you at any disciplinary hearing. Again, you should check with your employer to find out if their policy covers you for disciplinary hearings and if it doesn’t, our Professional Indemnity policy will provide you with this cover (subject to policy terms and conditions).

This difference between this Professional Indemnity policy and our legal expenses (fitness to practice) insurance is that our Professional Indemnity cover will defend cases of a clinical nature reported to your professional and/or regulatory body, whereas the legal expenses (fitness to practice) policy covers disciplinary issues outside of clinical negligence.

In some cases, your contract of employment may require you to buy your own professional liability policy, including cover for errors and omissions by you and, in these circumstances, we can provide you with full cover as requested (subject to acceptability).

Self-employed

If you are self-employed, it is your responsibility to ensure you have adequate Professional Indemnity insurance in place to defend yourself against claims of negligence.

We can provide you with a bespoke Professional Indemnity policy to meet your needs and requirements, along with providing the relevant legal expenses (fitness to practice) cover.

In this instance our Professional Indemnity policy will cover claims made against you by third parties for clinical negligence, plus complaints made to any professional or regulatory bodies relating to disciplinary hearings for clinical negligence.

Locums

For members working as locums, you need to check with your agency whether they are providing any insurance to cover you in the event of an issue happening at your place of work. This means you need to check each time you are placed in a new contract.

Whether you are on a short- or long-term contract, you need to have insurance in place should an incident occur and the benefit of buying our insurance product is that the policy will be in your name and move with you, irrespective of where you work. This will provide comfort that whatever happens, you are covered.

To proceed, locums should complete our Self-employed application.

UKAS Assessors

As many IBMS members - current and retired - are asked to provide UKAS assessments of laboratories to ensure they are meeting the required ISO standards, we have included a specific section for these members to buy and renew their insurances.

Being a UKAS assessor requires members to have in place professional indemnity cover for the work they carry our when reviewing and assessing laboratories and our scheme has taken this into account when rating your exposures.

Our UKAS product includes both professional indemnity and legal expenses, covering members against any claims of negligence, error or omission when carrying out their assessments for UKAS, plus providing comfort should a complaint about you be made to the HCPC, and they decide to act and request your presence at a disciplinary hearing. Our legal expenses policy covers the costs of defending and representing you at these hearings.

Students working within the NHS or Private sector

Whilst many Students will not carry out any type of work at all now and therefore, will not need to buy any insurance, we have included a reduced premium for students just in case they do perform some activities by way of, for example, work experience. Our premium is based on no work activities being done or, minimal at best and it is in place for members who feel they want to have some security if they do go onsite within the NHS or in private sector.

The options for students are the same as full members. If you are, or believe you may be working within the NHS, choose that option from our list. If you will work in private sector, select that button in our quote section and our quote will be displayed.

The limit of indemnity provided for Students is £250,000 only.

Maternity

Professional Indemnity insurance is a claims made policy, which means a policy needs to be active when a claim or complaint is made against you, to defend you. Even if the allegation of negligence happened years ago, if a policy is not in effect at the date of receiving the allegation, insurers can refuse to meet the claim.

Our maternity cover is for members who are on maternity leave, so they can maintain their required Professional Indemnity insurance, at reduced rates. When you return to work, the cover resumes, and a pro rata premium is paid to bring your cover back up to full cover. Cover is restricted during maternity cover to reporting of previous allegations only.

To get a quote, or for further information, please visit our website: www.ibmspi.co.uk