Get the Best Surgery Insurance for December 2024
Did you know that more than 2,000 doctor's surgeries have closed down across the UK in the last 9 years? The most common factor in all these closures were staffing problems and inadequate patient numbers. While broader shifts in society are difficult to manage, the one thing you can do to prepare for the unforeseen is to have the right insurance in place. The right insurance policy may be able to help you weather staff shortages, adverse economic conditions and even temporary closure.
In this guide, we explain what surgery insurance is, and how it works and take a look at some of the surgery insurance policies offered by the UK's leading providers.
Ageas surgery insurance review
Ageas is a multi-national insurance company founded in 1824 as AG. Ageas has 4+ million UK customers and also provides auto and home insurance. Its telephone helplines are open 24/7, 7 days a week. You can buy Ageas surgery insurance through a broker. Claims should be made online through their claims portal, using a simple form.
Pros
- 24/7 helpline
- Flexible policy allows you to change your policy as your business grows
- Personal accident coverage
- Legal coverage
- Product liability included
Cons
- Cannot buy directly, only through a broker
AXA surgery insurance review
AXA is a massive international insurance company working around the globe. AXA's surgery insurance can insure up to 10 locations and covers dispensing errors for up to £100,000 as standard. Stock deterioration is automatically covered up to £5,000 and accidental damage is a standard inclusion.
Pros
- Max turn over £8 million
- Accidental damage included
- Stock deterioration covered up to £5,000
- Can cover up to 10 surgeries of the same business
- Dispensing errors covered up to £100,000
Cons
- Does not cover data loss
Hiscox surgery insurance review
Hiscox is a specialised insurance provider founded in London in 1901. Hiscox offers a combined set of insurance policies to cover your surgery, with a wide range of add-ons. Hiscox surgery insurance is flexible and offers specialist protections, for example, high-value contents (such as in-surgery artworks). Hiscox additionally offers unlimited changes to your policy so that your insurance can adapt as your business evolves and changes.
Pros
- Hiscox's surgery insurance policy is flexible, with no limit to the number of changes you can make
- Large range of extra coverages
- Specialist coverages such as high-value contents insurance
Cons
- Missing cyber security coverage
Zurich surgery insurance review
Zurich is a Swiss insurance founded in 1872 and one of the largest insurers in the world. In 2022, Zurich won a 5-star eTrader rating for its transparency of service and responsiveness to customer queries and claims. Zurich has a virtual online line consulting service that can help you to identify risks and avoid potential hazards before they actually happen. Zurich offers cyber security insurance including cyber forensic services (to a value of £50,000) that can help you identify security weaknesses if your surgery is hit by a data breach.
Pros
- Very positive customer reviews
- Good pay claim rate
- A virtual risk assessment tool
- Cyber forensics offered to identify the source of a data breach
Cons
- Cannot buy directly, only through a broker
RSA surgery insurance review
RSA was founded in 1996 in London, however, its roots go back to the Sun Insurance company which was founded in 1706 and is one of the oldest in the world. RSA offers office, surgery and veterinary insurance. RSA has money insurance and goods in transit cover included as standard. Electronic equipment protection can be purchased as an add-on. Defaqto, an independent financial services company, awarded a five stars rating to RSA's surgery insurance package in 2022. Their policy contains specialised medical and health policy wording and includes medical malpractice protection
Pros
- Specialised medical insurance documents
- Free 24-hour helpline
- Five stars rating from Defaqto
- Medical malpractice coverage
Cons
- Holds a bad customer satisfaction rating
- Poor rating on Trust pilot
What is surgery insurance?
Surgery insurance is a type of business insurance that protects your business, your employees and the physical buildings and contents of your workplace. Some surgery insurance policies will protect against loss of income, for instance, if something unforeseen forces your surgery to close.
Your surgery insurance may include reputation protection or medical malpractice protection. This will cover the legal expenses and costs incurred if you are forced to fight a legal case against your surgery. For example, if a patient brings a case against your surgery for incorrect medical advice then medical malpractice insurance would cover the legal costs of fighting this claim or settling it. Professional indemnity coverage would cover the costs of restoring your reputation so that you stay open.
Do you need surgery insurance?
UK law requires you as an employer of at least one employee to have employer's liability insurance. This will cover the compensation due to employees if they are injured at work. Medical malpractice coverage is a very important protection to have in place. If you are not covered one unfortunate lawsuit could bankrupt your surgery.
Good to know
In the UK the minimum required coverage for employer's liability insurance is £5 million.
We strongly advise you to have public liability insurance to cover members of the public visiting your surgery (that is, anyone not covered by employer's liability insurance). This protection will pay compensation if a member of the public is injured or their property is damaged in your surgery.
Professional indemnity insurance could be a smart way to protect your business. If an employee is accused of having given negligent advice or a member of the public complains that the service you provided was inadequate then professional indemnity insurance will protect your business from having its reputation damaged. Some industry regulators make this type of surgery insurance mandatory before they will license a business.
What does surgery insurance cover?
Surgery insurance is often a mixture of business and building insurance though some policies can be more specific, including medical and health wording in the policy and also covering medical malpractice. In the table below we have outlined and explained the usual coverages that come with a surgery insurance policy.
| Coverage | What it protects |
|---|---|
| Employer's liability insurance | This covers compensation if an employee is injured or their property is damaged in the surgery. |
| Public liability insurance | This covers compensation if a member of the public (that is anyone not covered by employer's liability insurance) is injured or their property is damaged in the surgery. |
| Professional indemnity insurance | This pays the cost of protecting your reputation or if you are sued by a client to whom your business is accused of giving faulty or negligent advice. |
| Building coverage | This covers any damage done to the building in which the surgery is situated. This only applies if the policyholder owns the building. |
| Surgery content insurance | This protects surgery equipment and tools such as computers, surgery furniture and medical instruments in case of fire or theft. |
What does surgery insurance not cover?
Always remember when buying insurance to read your contract twice and thoroughly, you should read the list of exclusions particularly closely to avoid any unpleasant surprises later on. Most basic surgery insurance policies, however, will not cover the following.
- War
- Terrorism
- Damage or loss as a result of policyholder's criminal activities
- Damage or loss of equipment at another site
- Injury to an employee at another site
- Legal expenses unrelated to compensation
Watch out!
Typically, surgery insurance policies will explicitly exclude interruption to business coverage due to Covid-19. Make sure to check with your broker when purchasing if the policy you are buying excludes it.
How much surgery insurance do you need?
Minimum coverage is usually £2 million, however, the amount of surgery insurance you require will be dependent on the specifics of your situation. Is your surgery in an area with a high risk of burglary or theft? If you own your surgery building, is it situated in a flooding zone? Are medical procedures performed onsite or is it mainly a referral service?
Your annual turnover will also affect how much coverage you need. A small surgery with one receptionist will need a lower level of coverage than one with a larger staff.
What surgery insurance extras are there?
You may want to take out extra coverage in order to best cover your surgery and your business. Some insurers include these extras as standard, other insurance providers allow you to buy them as add-ons. We have added the most common surgery insurance extra protections in the table below and laid out how they work.
| Coverage | What it protects |
|---|---|
| Business interruption insurance | This compensates you if you are unable to run the business if for example the building is damaged or you are forced to close the surgery. |
| Legal cover | This will cover any legal fees that are not due to a compensation claim. If for example the business is being sued. |
| Manual work away | This covers employee compensation if they are injured while working for the business, not in the surgery. For example, if they are visiting a client. |
| Portable equipment | This covers surgery equipment if it is damaged while an employee is working for the business, not in the surgery. For example, if they are doing a home visit. |
| Terrorism | Most policies exclude terrorism, however, some insurance companies will allow you to purchase extra coverage if your surgery is situated in a high-risk area. |
How much is surgery insurance?
The cost of your surgery insurance will depend on the size of your establishment, the location of your surgery and the number of people you employ. The cost will depend also on whether you want the most basic, obligatory level of insurance or whether you require more comprehensive coverage. If you own, or the company owns, the building in which the surgery is located you will also require building and contents insurance. If the employees of your surgery regularly pay home visits to clients away from the surgery or attend off-site training days then you may want to have some off-site coverage too.
In order to give you a general understanding of the cost of surgery insurance, we have put together a table of rough averages below by coverage, imagine a small surgery of about three employees requiring the minimum level of coverage.
| Coverage | Average monthly premium cost |
|---|---|
| Public and products liability insurance | £13 |
| Employer's liability insurance | £11 |
| Professional indemnity insurance | £7 |
| Surgery equipment insurance | £4 |
| Legal expenses | £3 |
| Personal accident | £18 |
How to find a cheap surgery insurance quote?
The best way to find cheap insurance for surgery is to use online comparison tools. At the top of this page, there is a free-to-use comparison tool which will allow you to compare the protections offered by leading insurers.
