Isn’t that always the question when it comes to insurance? No-one wants to buy insurance, and no-one wants to claim but everyone wants to be sure that, should they have to claim, the policy will cover what they expected it to cover.
Sometimes this means making a choice as to whether to pay extra to include an optional benefit within the policy you’re buying. Should you cough up for windscreen cover when you take out motor insurance? What about the legal expenses cover that your home insurance company offers? Is it worth the extra premium?
Locum insurance, too, offers choices and, as with windscreen and legal expenses cover, clients need to work out whether the extra cost gives them something they feel is essential or is it something they could easily do without?
One of our selectable benefits, ‘Continuity of Cover’ means that clients will be able to claim repeatedly for recurrences of the same medical condition without it affecting the cover under their policy.
What does this mean in practice?
Let’s assume that ABC Practice takes out cover for its 4 GP partners (or dentists, or vets, or opticians, for example).
The policy starts on 1st June 2012 and they elect to include Continuity of Cover.
On 1st January 2013, one of the partners, John, is diagnosed with an illness necessitating 4 months off work.
The policy pays the weekly benefit for 3 months (after expiry of the 4 week deferment period the practice selected when taking out the policy).
John returns to work in May and the practice renews the policy in June 2013.
Continuity of Cover means that no matter how a person’s health deteriorates after their policy starts, their cover cannot be withdrawn or changed by the underwriters.
So when John has a relapse at the end of 2013 and claims again, the policy pays out again (after expiry of the selected deferment period).
For as long as the practice continues to renew their cover while John remains a partner, the practice can continue to claim for John’s repeated bouts of ill-health.
What if they hadn’t selected Continuity of Cover?
If, in the above example, the practice had not selected Continuity of Cover, only the first claim would have been paid.
At the subsequent renewal date, future recurrences of the ‘claimed for’ condition would have been excluded from the policy.
So is Continuity of Cover always essential?
No, it is not always essential. Some practices want a policy that pays for up to 12 months in respect of John’s first illness only. Their view is that, should John suffer repeated bouts of illness, he would leave the practice.
In this case, they determine that there is no point in paying the higher cost associated with Continuity of Cover if they would never make a claim for second and subsequent bouts of illness.
Other practices see it as a small cost for the peace of mind in the event of unanticipated recurrent illness.
Whatever your answer is to the question ‘what price peace of mind?’, locum insurance from Practice Cover can meet your needs.
Author: Lynda Cox, May 2012
The opinions presented in this blog are solely those of the author on behalf of Practice Cover Limited and they do not constitute individual advice.
