CLAIMS-MADE FAQs

Occurrence-based protection allows you to request assistance even after you have left Medical Protection membership and your subscription payment has ceased, provided the incident you are requesting assistance for occurred during the period in which you were a member and you were in the appropriate category of membership with Medical Protection.

Claims-made protection allows you access to all of the benefits of membership and request assistance for claims or complaints that arise from an adverse incident that occurs during your membership with Medical Protection.

However, you must have been a member at the time of the incident, and had continuous membership with us for the period between the incident occurring and the time you report it. You are also required to report the incident to us as soon as is reasonably practicable after you become aware of it.

To be able to report an incident that you only became aware of after your membership with claims-made protection has ended, you would need to either apply to purchase Extended Reporting Benefits (ERBs) from us, or alternatively, if you are to continue to practice after ceasing Medical Protection membership, have arrangements in place with your new provider that would allow you to report the incident to them.

Both options gives you access to the wider benefits of membership, such as: protection for Good Samaritan acts, free risk management workshops and online learning with verifiable CPD/CEU/CME, as well as online case reports and medicolegal factsheets.

Claims-made protection allows you to request assistance with any claim that arises from an adverse incident that occurs during your period of membership.

When you stop practising, you will have a window of 30 days after your membership period has ended to report any adverse incidents to us that occurred during your period of membership and to apply for Extended Reporting Benefits (ERBs).

As part of your membership you will also be able to continue to access member benefits, including assistance for regulatory matters that occur during membership.

Claims-made protection enables us to price year-to-year, so subscriptions are set closer to the emergence of the claim.

The member subscription for claims-made protection is calculated on the likelihood of the member having to report an adverse incident to us in that year, regardless of when the incident occurred during the period of membership.

All subscriptions are calculated by reviewing and assessing the claims environment of your specialty. This will include the frequency of complaints and claims, the cost of litigation and proceedings and the size of payments awarded by the courts – which are impacted by a number of factors such as changes in costs of future care, changes in life expectancy and legal and regulatory changes. 

An adverse incident is an event or circumstance that might give rise to you seeking assistance and or indemnity from Medical Protection. With claims-made protection you are required to report every adverse incident to us as soon as is reasonably practicable after you become aware of it.

The nature of medical negligence claims means that a significant amount of time can elapse between an adverse incident occurring and a claim arising. If a claim is made against you and you have not appropriately notified us of the adverse incident to which it relates, you will not be able to request assistance from us.

This is why you must report any adverse incidents that you think could lead to you seeking indemnity and assistance from us as soon as is reasonably practicable after the incident occurs, or when you become aware that it has occurred. This must be during your Medical Protection membership with claims-made protection, or within a period where you hold Extended Reporting Benefits (ERBs).

Extended Reporting Benefits (ERBs) enable you to request our assistance and report adverse incidents that occurred during your membership, but that you only become aware of after your membership with claims-made protection has ended.

This is important, because it is not always obvious that an adverse incident has taken place, and you may only become aware of an issue when the complaint or claim is received, which could be years later or even after you have retired.

When your claims-made membership has ended you can apply for ERBs to avoid gaps in your professional protection.

If you do not wish to purchase ERBs after your claims-made membership has ended, you will have 30 days after your membership period has ended to report any adverse incidents to us that occurred during your membership period.

If you do not purchase ERBs and you later become aware of an incident that occurred during your membership, you will not be able to report this to us and Medical Protection will not be able to support you should a claim arise.

You can apply to purchase ERBs if you meet one of the qualifying criteria:

10 year ERBs

• Permanent retirement from medical practice.
• Personal representatives acting on behalf of your estate after your death.

 Annual ERBs

• Permanent retirement from medical practice.
• Permanent change to your scope of practice if it involves ceasing paediatrics.
• Extended break from medical practice over 12 months.
• Permanently stop medical practice in your country of practice (ie moving overseas).
• Personal representatives acting on behalf of your estate after your death.

Granting ERBs is at the discretion of Medical Protection, in accordance with the Memorandum and Articles of Association.

To apply for ERBs, please contact the membership team on 0800 225 677 toll free or email [email protected]. 

To be considered, your application must be received within 30 days before or after the end of your Medical Protection membership with claims-made protection. In the event of your death, your personal representatives must submit an application to purchase ERBs within 90 days after your death.

If you purchase a 10 year ERB and wish to purchase further ERBs after this period, you must request a quote within 30 days of the end of the 10 year ERB period. The quote will be valid for 30 days from the date of provision.

If you purchase annual ERBs and wish to purchase further ERBs, you must request a quote within 30 days of the end of your current ERB period. The quote will be valid for 30 days from the date of provision.

Granting ERBs is at the discretion of Medical Protection, in accordance with the Memorandum & Articles of Association.

To apply for ERBs, please contact the membership team on 0800 225 677 toll free or email [email protected]. 

We encourage you to apply for ERBs when you cease practising, to enable the reporting of incidents that occurred but were not reported during your membership.

We understand that members want greater flexibility over options for protection once they retire and so we offer you the opportunity to purchase ERBs on a 10 year or annual basis at the time you retire.

At this time, Medical Protection is not able to provide ERBs to members who are moving to another indemnity provider. We encourage you to ask your new indemnity provider to provide you with adequate protection for your period of Medical Protection claims-made membership to avoid any gaps in your protection.

Costs for ERBs are determined on an individual basis. Predicting the price of ERBs is difficult because of the rapidly changing claims environment and because it will also depend upon the length of your career and practice history.

We do understand the desire to know what the likely cost will be. For illustrative purposes, we would say that if you are considering retiring, provided the litigation environment remains as it is now and the basis upon which we are able to offer ERBs remains unchanged, we do not anticipate that the cost of a 10 year ERB will be more than three times your final year’s membership subscription with claims-made protection*.

*based on a full year’s subscription.

If you permanently change your practice, for example by ending obstetric practice and moving to gynaecology, then ERBs will allow you to report adverse incidents that relate to your obstetric practice, but that you only become aware of after your membership with claims-made protection has ended.

ERBs in this circumstance are currently available to purchase on an annual basis.

No, you only need to report adverse incidents or events that you genuinely think will lead to you seeking assistance and/or indemnity from us. If you are in doubt, please contact our medicolegal team on 0800 982 766 or [email protected] for guidance.

Where we do provide assistance or indemnity there will be a financial limit for each membership year. When we take on a member’s case we can take care of the legal costs and compensation payments up to a discretionary indemnity limit.

The limit is set in advance for each membership year and applies to all adverse incidents that are reported in that year. The current limit is R50 million.

The limit applies whether this is for one individual adverse incident, or for the total of all adverse incidents that occur in a single membership year. These limits have been set with a view to offering fair and affordable subscriptions, and protecting the interests of the membership as a whole.