Practice medical indemnity: Frequently asked questions

Avant Practice Medical Indemnity Insurance protects your medical practice, not individual doctors. 

Your policy covers: 

• legal costs and compensation your practice may need to pay when facing allegations, incidents, or complaints 
• legal fees for employment disputes and other matters. 

Your practice can be named as a defendant in legal proceedings. This can happen alongside or instead of the doctor who provided care to the patient. 

Beyond medico-legal risks, your practice faces other exposures such as: 

• employment disputes 
• cyber incidents 
• public liability claims 
• Medicare audit issues 
• reputation management matters. 

Practice medical indemnity insurance protects your staff and your practice entity from these claims. 

For example: 

• A patient has seen several doctors or a locum who isn't permanently with your practice. It's unclear which (if any) has been negligent. 
• A patient's injury resulted from the actions or advice of your practice employee.  

Practitioner indemnity insurance protects individual doctors and is mandatory for medical registration. It provides cover for claims made against the individual doctor. It may include limited cover for the doctor's own practice entity and employees. 

 Without separate practice cover, claims against your practice may be paid from your practitioner indemnity policy. This can increase your practitioner premium costs. 

Avant Practice Medical Indemnity Insurance is broader optional cover designed to protect your practice (business entity) for claims associated with: 

• civil liability 
• complaints, inquiries, and investigations 
• vaccine management and administration 
• employment disputes 
• Medicare Benefits Scheme audit 
• reputation of the practice 
• public liability (optional). 

It can shield doctors from the risk of practitioner indemnity insurance responding to claims against a practice and the impacts that has on practitioner indemnity premium prices. 

Practice medical indemnity insurance provides cover for the healthcare provided at your practice. It includes cover for admin staff, reception staff, nurses, students, and the entity itself. 

Business insurance covers your physical practice such as buildings, contents, equipment, machinery, and stock. It's comparable to a home and contents policy. 

Avant Practice Medical Indemnity Insurance is designed to cover your practice entity for professional liability and other matters when you provide healthcare services. 

Your policy covers many aspects of your practice, including: 

• medical and non-medical staff 
• practice systems and processes 
• your practice's reputation. 

The amount of cover your practice requires depends on: 

• the nature of the healthcare you provide 
• the potential risk of providing those services. 

Your limit of indemnity should be enough to cover any exposure your practice has to staff or members of the public, and the possible extent of compensation claims. 

Generally, the larger your practice and the broader scope of healthcare services you provide, the higher the cover you'll need. 

There are many aspects to consider when choosing your limit of indemnity: 

• Contractual or client requirements – certain contracts might require a minimum level of cover 
• Nature of the healthcare provided and potential risk – what type of healthcare do you provide, how risky or complex is it, and the number and frequency of procedures 
• Future proofing – factor in inflation and other costs. 

Your policy covers legal defence costs and compensation amounts your practice may become liable to pay for allegations and complaints. 

It also covers: 

• legal fees for employment disputes and other matters 
• public liability cover (optional addition). 

All cover is subject to the terms, conditions, and exclusions set out in the Policy wording.

Under Avant Practice Medical Indemnity Insurance, we insure the legal entity. 

It's important that you disclose all entities that provide healthcare services and the entities that employ your practice staff. A copy of your organisational chart and the activities of each entity will help us tailor your policy to cover all your practices. 

Examples: 

1. John Smith Pty Ltd t/as John Smith General Practice 
   John Smith Specialist Pty Ltd t/as John Smith Allied Health 
2. Southern Cross Pty Ltd t/as Spencer Street Medical Centre, Elizabeth Street Medical Centre, Collins Street Medical Centre 

Your Avant Practice Medical Indemnity Insurance covers legal defence costs and compensation amounts your practice may become liable to pay for allegations and complaints. 

It also covers legal fees for employment disputes and other matters, with the option to include public liability cover. 

All cover is subject to the terms, conditions, and exclusions set out in the Policy wording. 

Avant's Practitioner Indemnity Insurance policy provides limited cover for a practice owned by a doctor. However, this only applies if the doctor meets the eligibility criteria. 

All cover is subject to the terms, conditions, and exclusions set out in the Policy wording. 

Avant Practice Medical Indemnity Insurance includes cyber insurance cover (for all eligible practices). This has been designed to complement and work together with your practice medical indemnity insurance. It provides peace of mind that you have a level of protection for many common cyber risks your practice faces, now and in the future. 

If the combined gross billings of each single insured practice covered under your practice medical indemnity insurance, in the financial year before the policy period starts, was less than $40,000,000, your practice may be eligible for cyber insurance. 

All cover is subject to the terms, conditions, and exclusions set out in the Policy wording. 

Every practice is different. We underwrite policies individually based on your specific practice. 

Several factors influence your premium, including: 

• the limit of indemnity you choose 
• the type of healthcare services your practice provides and associated risks 
• the number of medical and non-medical staff working for your practice. 
• Because your cover is tailored to your practice, the cost varies on a case-by-case basis. For this reason, we can't provide a general price estimate. 

To get a quote: 

Complete our practice medical indemnity application form, or request a call back from our team. 

Gross billings are what a practice bills for providing healthcare services before the deduction of expenses or taxes during a financial year

Avant's Medico-legal Advisory Service (MLAS) is available to Avant policyholders. It provides expert advice to help minimise the chance of a complaint or claim occurring. 

A national team of solicitors staffs the service. Our medico-legal experts are available on 1800 128 268 during regular business hours (8.30am to 5.00pm in each state and territory). For urgent enquiries, you can call after hours and on weekends. 

You can submit claims and notifications of incidents to Avant by submitting an online medico-legal notification. An authorised representative of your practice should submit the notification. 

If you require medico-legal assistance, call the Medico-legal Advisory Service team on 1800 128 268 during regular business hours (8.30am to 5.00pm in each state and territory). For urgent enquiries, you can call after hours and on weekends. 

Avant's Medico-legal Advisory Service (MLAS) provides expert advice to help minimise the chance of a complaint or claim occurring. We also provide guidance and support with general medico-legal issues. 

Our medico-legal experts are available on 1800 128 268 during regular business hours (8.30am to 5.00pm in each state and territory). For urgent enquiries, you can call after hours and on weekends. 

When you close your medical practice, or it is acquired by another entity with no written agreement to accept liability for events before the acquisition, a patient can still make a claim arising from an event that occurred before closure or acquisition. A patient may make the claim against the practice entity, not an individual medical practitioner. 

Practice run-off cover (sometimes called tail cover) is designed to extend protection for future claims related to work done before closure. This ensures you have financial security and peace of mind.  

You need to advise Avant within 30 days after you become aware of any change that materially varies or alters a matter relevant to the risk covered by your policy. 

This could include (but is not limited to): 

• a merger with another company or business 
• addition of a new premises, or extension or expansion of your business premises 
• bankruptcy, administration, receivership, liquidation, appointment of a receiver or bankruptcy or winding-up proceedings 
• any material changes in the nature of your business or the healthcare services you provide.