Professional Indemnity Policy
Unique medical defence through insurance and discretion
Traditionally, medical defence organisations have provided medical indemnity to doctors on a discretionary basis. Only the MDU provides members with an insurance policy for clinical negligence claims and discretionary indemnity for claims outside the policy. This unique combination of insurance and discretion is designed to provide MDU members with the certainty and security of contractual insurance and the potential flexibility of discretionary indemnity.
An insurance policy is a contractual agreement clearly setting out how it will provide assistance under the terms of the policy. Discretionary indemnity gives an MDU member the right to ask for assistance if a claim is outside the terms of the policy or is notified after the doctor has ceased to practise or retired, as long as the incident happened while he or she was a member. The MDU believes that the unique combination of insurance and discretion is the most cost-effective and secure way to provide clinicians with indemnity for claims arising while they are in practice and also after they retire, even if the incident occurred many years before.
In this way they get the best of both worlds – the security of insurance and the reassurance they can seek discretionary indemnity at any time.
That's why integral to most classes of MDU membership is a Professional Indemnity Policy, underwritten by SCOR UK Company Limited and by International Insurance Company of Hannover Limited, which can provide the safeguard you need for complete peace of mind.
Cover under the Professional Indemnity Policy
The policy provides cover of up to £10 million (£5 million for paramedics)* for any legal liability to pay compensation, including claimants' legal and defence costs, arising out of a clinical negligence claim while members are active practising members of the MDU. Cover is for clinical services provided within the UK and for Good Samaritan acts provided worldwide.
The Professional Indemnity Policy also provides overseas cover for training grades working in recognised supervised training positions in many countries of the world*.
Discretionary indemnity complements the insured cover available to MDU members, offering additional flexibility and providing members with access to indemnity for claims from incidents that happened while they were a paying member of the MDU, but which are not notified until after they retire or leave the MDU.
The Professional Indemnity Policy is arranged through MDU
Services Ltd (MDUSL) and underwritten by SCOR UK Company Limited and by International Insurance Company of Hannover Limited.
International Insurance Company of Hannover Limited is owned by Hannover Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance groups, while SCOR UK Company Limited is part of the SCOR group, the world's fifth largest reinsurer. By having two such significant institutions standing directly behind the policy, MDU members have access to even greater security.
MDUSL is an insurance intermediary, authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in respect of insurance mediation activities only.
The policy is provided to most individual paying members. For full terms and conditions of the policy including all policy exclusions, you can download a specimen policy document.
* subject to terms of the policy
