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I'm moving to Oz from the UK and will be working in private practice. In the UK, membership of the Soc of Pods provides us with our professional insurance but how does it work in Oz?
Will membership of the relevant state board provide the insurance or are there private companies that do this? If so, can anyone provide me with any names.
I not sure if the Union one covers private practice work, but would be worth looking into.
The two main providers are AON and Guild. AON used to be the preferred provider by the Australasian Podiatry Council, then they moved to Guild. AON had a dummy spit over that and directly targeted podiatrists rather than go through APodC. I think AON might be cheaper, but Guild are much more proactive at supporting the professsion; much more into risk management and providing preventative strategies for Podiatrists to use; and I think (and stand to be corrected on this one) have in-house lawyers available for immediate telephone support.
If you join the relevant state association, they will provide the contact details for Guild.
At one time the Society Insurance covered members practising in other countries (at least that was the common belief). Hence many UK pods continued with their UK memberships years after moving from the UK. You would need to check with the Soc in London to confirm if you are already covered for indeminity insurance overseas. Some (maybe all ) State Registration Boardsin Aus will have a requirment where their registrants need a minimum insurance cover eg in WA that is two million dollars. Depending on the type of work you do and the authorities you serve this threshold may be greater for example working for the Veterans Association (DVA) you need a cover of five million dollars. Local pods will keep you right.
At one time in Aus many practitioners automatically registered with the (state) Podiatry Association. Because the country is so big there is a nation representation body called the Podiatry Council (made up of an executive and state representatives). Membership of the professional body automatically brought indemnity insurance (similar the Society). However in more recent years according to published statistics anyway membership of the biggest profesional group has dropped. Costs to join the professional association have certainly increased which may well put some practitioners offside. Indemnity insurance to cover extended scope of practice which is still a minoroity activity in Australia has contributed to the general rise in costs although to the best of my knowledge surgical podiatrists do need extra insurance. However the growing number of registered pods no longer members of a professional association has created a market for independent insurance cover.
Public service employees are usually covered but one has also to be mindful you may be countersued in cases of professional neglegence by your employer in which case an employees' insurance will not cover you. Technically if your are employed in private practice, your employer would have a duty of care to their clients to have you insured at the work place. So you could ask your employer about that. The down side is this is not generally common practice. Even where it is you would be advised to have your own personal insurance in case you are countersued.
As has already been covered there are insurance options through unions and private brokers.
It is very doubtful that a society or organisation covering its members in the UK could cover them in Australia too. The problem is underwriting when costs and awards might be higher in Oz. Just an observation and interested in others comments
Indemnity insurance to cover extended scope of practice which is still a minoroity activity in Australia has contributed to the general rise in costs....
Are you sure about this?
I was lead to be believe that podiatric surgeons were managed under a separate risk strategy, hence the need for premiums of many thousands of dollars.
I'm not sure that the majority has been used to offset the costs of the minority - but I guess Guild/AON would be the people to ask specifically.
LL
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Conversely, I am an Aussie pod, now living in the UK. Are there any other options for indemnity etc insurance apart from joining the Society? Can anyone make any recommendations of good companies?
The SCP insurance does cover pods working overseas (except the US). My concern is that it could be a major pain in the bum trying to deal with a UK-based insurer if someone was trying to sue me! I'm not sure whether the insurance would cover the cost of a local lawyer (I would assume so, but realise the limitations of making a decision based on assumption).
SCP have only just started to offer overseas members the option of paying a reduced fee that doesn't include insurance, so until this year overseas practising members were paying for insurance anyway.
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