Defining the actual amount of indemnity

It is important to differentiate between ‘full malpractice insurance’ and ‘treatment insurance’. Most health care practitioners, therapists and beauticians purchase the latter, since this is a generally less expensive, because most policies are restricted to evidenced bodily injury only and rarely involve legal defence costs. Malpractice insurance differs from ‘treatment’ style policies in so much as they not only cover bodily injury, but the definition also includes ‘mental injury’, awards for lost income, pain and suffering, dissatisfaction claims and ‘Good Samaritan’ acts. We are collectively of the opinion that all cosmetic practitioner license holders should be required to hold medical malpractice Insurance as a condition of approval (supported by an appropriately determined level of medical indemnity cover as noted in the following paragraph). Our partner, Hamilton Fraser, the UK’s leading provider of cosmetic insurance offers cover for both essential and more specialised cosmetic practices.

A typical ‘treatment only’ policy will provide an aggregate policy limit of indemnity between £500,000 and £2 million per policy year, whereas medical malpractice policies generally start at £2 million with cover limits extending up to £10 million for evasive and experimental procedures. It is often the case

that most claim awards relate to litigation and legal defence costs by qualified personal injury firms rather than in-house insurance claim handlers.

Because of this, the JCCP advises that the minimum level of full malpractice insurance cover should be £2 million with the norm for toxins, fillers and laser starting at £5 milion. The amount of indemnity cover provided should also take account of any potential physical, psychological, and emotional consequences of complications arising from any aesthetic procedure.

A further consideration should include how insurers and brokers explain and ensure that practitioners understand the claim settlement basis provided by their policy. Treatment only policies tend to be written on a ‘claims occurred’ basis; the practitioner must be insured at the time of the undertaking of the treatment and not necessarily at the time of notifying the claim to the insurer, whereas medical malpractice insurance requires insurance at both the time of the treatment and at the time of claim notification to the insurer without a break in cover.

“At Hamilton Fraser, we strongly believe in quality training for aesthetic practitioners, and we collaborate with training courses throughout the UK to make sure our knowledge of treatments and techniques is up-to-date.

Our goal is to support you in achieving your aesthetic business goals, and to protect you every step of the way should an allegation of malpractice ever be made against you.”

Eddie Hooker, Founder and CEO of Hamilton Fraser