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The (not quite) A-Z of dental indemnity terms
When you begin looking for your next dental indemnity policy it’s important to get the right one for the kind of dentistry you’re practising. If you ever need to call on your indemnifier for help, you want know that you’re covered for what you’ve been doing.
To help you do that, we’ve put together a glossary – not quite a full A-Z – of the words and phrases used to describe dental indemnity organisations and policy terms to help give you a clearer picture of how they operate so you can choose the right one for your needs.
Broker – an intermediary who doesn’t work directly for the insurer and acts on behalf of the insured, i.e., you as the dentist, rather than the policy provider, to arrange the indemnity. They are different to an insurance agent who acts for the insurance company and is bound by its rules and responsibilities.
A broker has no obligation to the indemnity provider, only to their client.
Claims-made cover – means that you’re only covered for claims that are made while that policy is in force. Once you’ve stopped paying for the policy and it expires, you’re not covered for any claims made against you – even if they’re for something that happened while the policy was in place.
Claims-occurred cover – means that you’re covered for claims made while the policy is in force and even if it runs out, you are still covered if it relates to treatment that happened while the policy was in place.
Discretionary-based – the decision to assist is based on a discretionary basis. This means that your indemnifier is not obliged to assist you as long as a claim is being made but choose to do as at their discretion.
Discretionary-based organisations aren’t bound by policy wording but there will still be an agreement in place between dentist and indemnifier known as the Articles of Association and the provider must still follow the law around exercising their discretion.
Insurance-based (AKA non-discretionary/contractual) – a profit-making organisation with shareholders. They are bound to cover the dentist for issues that fall within the terms and conditions of their policy wording.
Should a disagreement arise between the dentist and their indemnifier, it can be adjudicated by the Financial Services Ombudsman.
Introducer – they do not provide the indemnity policy or work directly for the indemnifier themselves, but their role is to introduce you as the dentist to the organisation that provides the cover.
Medical Defence Organisation (MDO) – is a non-profit making mutual organisation that offers discretionary-based cover and decisions to assist with a claim are often made by a board of dentists. The indemnity offered by an MDO is offered as part of a wider membership fee. Many of the longer-established indemnity providers are MDOs.
Run-off cover – this is a feature that may or may not be included in your policy, and the details of which can vary between policies. Run-off cover is the extra time that you’re give on your policy following its expiration date.
It is always capped at a number of years but exactly how long it lasts for can differ. Run-off cover can apply following retirement, death, career break or maternity/paternity leave, but not all of these circumstances are necessarily covered and you need to read the details of your policy to understand which situations you have run-off cover for.
Finding the right indemnity provider for your needs is vital. You can quickly and easily compare dental indemnity providers via our comparisons page.
Here you’ll see at a quick glance how I&I users have rated different providers, the cost of their average premium, customer reviews and key features of their offering.
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