Dental Professional Indemnity Insurance

Definition of Professional Dental Indemnity Insurance

A Professional Indemnity Insurance arrangement for a Dental Practitioner, as per the Dental Board Of Australia, is an arrangement – that secures for the practitioner – insurance against civil liability incurred by, or loss arising from, a claim that is made as a result of a negligent act, error or omission in the conduct of the practitioner. This type of insurance covers the costs and expenses of defending a legal claim, as well as any damages payable.  The full standard can be found here.  Experien General Insurance Services (Experien) helps Dental Practitioners to arrange such cover.

A comprehensive package to protect you and your practice

• The security of a large Australian professional indemnity insurer (Insurance Australia Limited trading as CGU insurance).
• A personal insurance manager for you to access at any time.
• No call centres.
• High standard coverage of $20m for claims and potentially more with defence costs paid in addition to the policy limit.
• Pricing is not dependent on membership of the ADA.
• A national team with consistent pricing and services in each state
• Legal representation and defence support from award winning specialized commercial lawyers with extensive claims experience.
• Peer support by experienced dentists currently working in commercial private practice.
• Risk management resources and services.
• Used by hundreds of dentists around Australia with over 1000 claims and support services provided to date.

What type of dental practitioners can Experien assist?

• Private practice dentist – self employed or contractor/associate
• Orthodontists – discounted pricing
• Graduate dentists – discounted pricing
• 1st Year – employee or contractor
• 2nd Year – employee or contractor
• 3rd Year – contractor only (not self employed)
• Practice employed dentists
• Part time private practice dentist – less than 20 hours pw
• Oral and maxillofacial surgeon – arrange via another insurer
• Retired dentists – conditions apply
• Oral health therapist
• Dental hygienist
• Dental technician
• Dentists performing cosmetic facial aesthetics – conditions apply
• General dentists performing implants and/or orthodontics

See the Product Disclosure Statement issued by the insurer (Insurance Australia Limited, trading as CGU Insurance) and your own policy schedule for the actual policy wordings applicable to you.  The above is a summary prepared in March 2021. Please note that sub limits apply to some coverage as noted in the policy wordings.

How the product we arrange can support you

There is a wide range in premiums offered from one insurer to another based on the specifics of each dentist. Prices as low as a few hundred dollars per annum for new graduates to over $10,000 per annum for dentists that are regarded by an insurer as high risk.  Many full time dentists in private practice pay premiums between $2,500 and $5,000 per annum.

Each insurer will set prices based on their own criteria, which can change over time.  Common factors taken into account in setting premiums include :

• The number of hours worked each week (e.g. full time vs part time work).

• The nature of the work done by each dentist (some insurers regard certain procedures as higher risk than others).

• The number and amount of past insurance claims of the dentist.

• Whether the dentist has faced any issues with Regulators in the past.

• Some insurers may differentiate their price based on the location of the dentist (e.g. their state).

There are many other factors that are taken into account. For example, some insurers may charge more if you are not a paid member of an association they are aligned with.

No. Insurers generally offer policies for a one year duration. At the end of the policy year, the insurer has the option of offering to renew the policy and can vary the pricing, features or not offer renewal terms at all.  The concept of ‘insurer of last resort’ offered to doctors  does not exist for dentists.

No. Insurers offer different sub limits and features for coverage as set out in their policy wordings and policy schedules.

Two examples of this are:

• one insurer may offer cover for Regulatory Claims defence costs of $500,000 whereas another may only offer a limit of $100,000.
• one insurer may offer a limit for Civil Claims defence costs of $10m per claim whereas another may offer a choice of $10m or $20m.