How your membership options are changing in 2020 for Bermuda

How your membership options are changing in 2020

We are introducing two key changes to membership for paediatricians on a high-risk grade:

The discretionary indemnity limit of BED$10 million on your occurrence-based membership will change from per individual adverse incident to the total of all adverse incidents reported in a single membership year.
A claims-made membership option will be made available which will also have a discretionary indemnity limit of BED$10 million per membership year.

Changes to the discretionary indemnity limits on your current membership

As a member on a high-risk paediatrics grade, you currently have occurrence-based membership with a discretionary indemnity limit of BED$10 million per individual adverse incident. There is currently no limit to the total expenditure for all adverse incidents reported in a single membership year. From 1 January 2020 this is changing, and all indemnity and assistance provided in a single membership year will be limited to BED$10 million per adverse incident and the total of all adverse incidents reported in a single membership year. This is commonly known as in the aggregate. This change will not affect any open cases you may have with Medical Protection.

All other membership benefits will remain the same.

Claims-made membership

On 1 March 2020, we are introducing claims-made protection as a new membership option, giving you and other members on a high-risk paediatric grade a choice in the type of protection you purchase from us. Like the occurrence-based membership, this type of protection will also have an indemnity limit of BED$10 million.

Claims-made protection may be more affordable for you in the early years, but there are some important differences between the two types of protection, particularly when it comes to reporting adverse incidents and protecting yourself against claims in retirement. Please review the product features carefully before deciding which one best meets your needs.

A brief overview of the two types of protection can be found below:

Protection

Claims-made protection

Can provide protection only when the incident occurs and is reported during the period of membership (or when Extended Reporting Benefits (ERBs) are in force).

Occurrence-based protection

Can provide protection when the incident occurs during your membership period, regardless of when a claim is brought.

Protection after your membership period has ended

Claims-made protection

When you stop practising and leave Medical Protection, you will need to apply to purchase Extended Reporting Benefits (ERBs) to ensure you are able to report any incidents that occurred during your period of membership, but that you only became aware of after your membership ended. If you continue practising but wish to move to another indemnity provider, you will not be able to purchase ERBs from us. You will need to ensure your new provider offers you adequate protection in relation to incidents which occurred during your period of membership with Medical Protection, but that you did not report to us. This is known as ‘nose cover’.

Occurrence-based protection

There is no need to make further arrangements after your membership has ended. This is because the subscription you pay each year gives you the right to request indemnity in relation to incidents arising in that year, regardless of when a claim is brought.

Adverse incident reporting

Claims-made protection

You need to report any adverse incidents and claims as soon as you become aware of them. You must also ensure you have reported incidents within your membership or ERBs period.

Occurrence-based protection

There is no obligation to report incidents to us. But we still require you to report claims as soon as you become aware of them.

Pricing

Claims-made protection

Claims-made protection is typically priced year-to-year as subscriptions are set closer to the emergence of the claim. Because of this, claims-made protection is usually cheaper in the early years. As time goes on and the accumulated risk increases, the cost of the annual claims-made protection will typically rise in steps over the first 5 years until membership reaches its full maturity at around year 5. As claims-made protection relies less on predicting future claims volumes and costs, the price is usually a closer reflection of the actual claims experience for your specialty.

Occurrence-based protection

Subscriptions for occurrence-based protection enable you to request assistance for the cost of claims that arise from your professional practice during your membership with Medical Protection, regardless of when the claim is brought, even if this is many years into the future.
Our actuarial team use predictive models to evaluate the expected cost and frequency of future claims in order to calculate the appropriate subscription.

You can find out more about how claims-made membership works at medicalprotection.org/claimsmade. Whether you choose claims-made or occurrence-based protection, you can still have access to the full range of membership benefits, including risk prevention tools and techniques and expert medicolegal advice and support.

Subscription rates in 2020

To make an informed choice about which membership option is best for you, the subscription rates for both claims-made and occurrence-based protection for 2020 can be found below.

Full-time practice

Part-time practice 5 days or less per month

Claims-made protection: BED$14,112

Claims-made protection: BED$6,223

Occurrence-based protection: BED$40,320

Occurrence-based protection: BED$17,780

We have also included, for information only, an example of how the claims-made price could rise over the next 5 years – see below. It’s important to note that these increases are based on the fully mature price for 2020 and are an example of what a member renewing in years 2 to 5 would pay this year. Both the claims-made and occurrence-based prices will vary in line with our normal actuarial review and analysis of the claims environment and inflationary factors.

Full-time practice

Part-time practice 5 days or less per month

Claims-made protection Year 1: BED$14,112

Claims-made protection Year 1: BED$6,223

Claims-made protection Year 2: BED$16,934

Claims-made protection Year 2: BED$7,468

Claims-made protection Year 3: BED$19,757

Claims-made protection Year 3: BED$8,712

Claims-made protection Year 4: BED$25,402

Claims-made protection Year 4: BED$11,201

Claims-made protection Year 5: BED$28,224

Claims-made protection Year 5: BED$12,446

What do I need to do?

If you wish to move onto claims-made protection with an indemnity limit, you can do this at any time from 1 March 2020 by calling +44 113 241 0727 or by emailing [email protected]

If you wish to remain on occurrence-based protection, you do not need to do anything. Your membership type will remain unchanged. However, your indemnity limit will change from per individual adverse incident to the total of all adverse incidents reported in a single year.

If you have any questions or concerns about your membership options, please call +44 113 241 0727 or email [email protected] and our membership team will be happy to assist you.

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