Who is providing RPS Professional Liability Insurance cover?
RPS have partnered with leading insurance broker Aon (Aon plc is ranked 2nd insurance broker globally based on 2023 total revenue by Best’s Review 2024) to arrange RPS Professional Liability Insurance, and our policies are underwritten and insured by healthcare specialists.
Aon operate globally and their healthcare team (who worked with us on RPS Professional Indemnity Insurance) has considerable experience in arranging insurance for the healthcare sector.
More information about Aon UK.
Are there different levels of cover available?
Because RPS Professional Liability Insurance provides comprehensive cover for all eligible RPS members, we do not offer any bespoke moderations to the policy (e.g., different levels of excess).
Different career stages and professional circumstances pose differing levels of risk and liability, so the price of your RPS Professional Liability Insurance will vary depending on whether you are a Foundation Trainee, Employed, or Self-Employed pharmacist.
Click here to review examples of the specific coverage required for different roles.
We recognise that some RPS members may have other insurance arrangements in place or generally do not require RPS Professional Liability Insurance. Therefore, you can opt out of the policy if you prefer (your membership fee will be adjusted accordingly).
How do I opt out of RPS Professional Liability Insurance?
We recognise that some RPS members may have other insurance arrangements in place or generally do not require RPS Professional Liability Insurance. Therefore, you can opt out of the policy if you prefer (your membership fee will be adjusted accordingly).
I’m a Direct Debit payer how do I opt out?
If you are eligible for Professional Liability Insurance and you currently pay by Direct Debit but do not want Professional Liability Insurance to be automatically added on to your membership, you can opt out here https://eu-health-news.info/rps-membership/my-rps/my-profile%3C/a%3E. Please head to the 'Insurance Details' tab and you can opt to 'Exclude insurance from membership' and 'update' details.
I don’t pay by Direct Debit – how do I opt out?
If you are eligible for RPS Professional Liability Insurance, do not have an active Direct Debit and do not want to include RPS Professional Liability Insurance in your membership, you can opt to exclude RPS Professional Liability Insurance when renewing, applying for membership, or upgrading your membership from one type to another.
If you prefer, you can also opt out by contacting our membership team at [email protected] or on 0207 572 2737.
How do I opt into RPS Professional Liability Insurance at a later date?
If you do not currently need RPS Professional Liability Insurance but wish to add it to your membership package in the future, simply opt out of the benefit for now - see the question above “Can I opt out of RPS Professional Liability Insurance?” for details of how to do this.
Once you have opted out, you can then take up RPS Professional Liability Insurance at a time that’s more convenient for you, in any of the following ways:
Want to manually add this benefit to your membership package?
You can add-on RPS Professional Liability Insurance at any time using this form.
Want to wait until your current insurance expires?
Let us know when thatyour current insurance expires will be by filling in this form and we will contact you closer to the time to remind you to add-on RPS Professional Liability Insurance.
Do you pay via Direct Debit and want to wait until your next membership renewal?
Update your preferences in the My RPS section of your account, and then simply wait until you next renew your membership - RPS Professional Liability Insurance will be added to your membership package
Why has RPS decided to provide insurance?
Pharmacists today work across practice settings; they are prescribing, dispensing and administering medicines such as vaccines both inside and outside the NHS.
With Indemnity insurance a requirement of the General Pharmaceutical Council, pharmacists have told us they want insurance that is flexible, clear, and affordable.
Flexible: to include every stage of your practice - including advanced and portfolio careers
Clear: to meet the complex demands of your diverse practice settings - including prescribing
Affordable: to give the best value at every stage of your career.
We believe you should feel personally secure, confident to practise, and able to expand the scope of your work, with expert support from legal and professional advisors.
The pharmacy landscape is changing rapidly. Advances in practice mean pharmacists are taking on expanded responsibilities to enhance patient care. Neal Patel (RPS Associate Director of Membership), has written about why we have created RPS Professional Liability Insurance for our members.
What are the GPhC requirements for insurance?
You must make sure that the indemnity arrangement you have in place provides appropriate cover. This means that the cover needs to be appropriate to the nature and extent of the risks involved in your practice so that enough compensation will be paid to the patient should a successful claim be made against you.
What is appropriate cover for you will depend on a combination of factors, including:
- The practice area or areas of practice you work in
- The services you provide to patients and the public
- The risks involved with your practice.
Why is RPS using an “opt-out” model?
We wanted to give members the choice of whether or not to take out Professional Liability Insurance with us – but we also wanted to ensure that members need proactively to choose to opt-out in order to reduce the risk of accidental exposure to professional liability (by thinking they were insured when they were not).
We believe that this approach is more convenient and ensures you’re protected.
For existing members, we are being transparent about the fact you can opt out of Professional Liability Insurance by clearly notifying you of the new cost and coverage details. If you are an RPS member and pay by Direct Debit, you will be notified by letter, email and text message informing you of the revised cost, including the new benefit, and that you can opt out of RPS Professional Liability Insurance if you wish.
Once you have renewed there is also a 14-day ‘cooling-off’ period during which you can cancel the Professional Liability Insurance and receive a refund for this element of your membership.
The benefits of being automatically enrolled into RPS Professional Liability Insurance include:
- Simplified experience with no complex forms or applications to complete
- Protection against claims related to your professional work once you have paid and the appropriate sanctions and underwriting checks have been completed
- Reduced risk of unintentionally being uninsured
Is RPS registered with the Financial Conduct Authority to offer insurance products?
RPS is not an insurance company or broker. The cover is offered by Segment Risk Ltd as Authorised Representatives on behalf of the insurer and arranged on RPS’s behalf by Aon. Segment Risk Ltd, the insurer and Aon are all authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
The primary purpose of the RPS insurance offer is to improve patient and public safety by ensuring that all pharmacists are able to hold appropriate cover for their activities and the insurance is not offered to make a profit for RPS. Therefore, it falls outside the scope of the requirement for RPS to hold FCA authorisation as the FCA permits groups and clubs to set up insurance benefits for their members where there is no direct financial benefit to the membership body.
Who is the policyholder under the RPS insurance for members?
The RPS insurance policy is a group scheme policy provided by Segment Risk Ltd to RPS (the Policyholder). As the Policyholder, RPS is responsible for explaining the insurance needs of its members and agreeing the insurance policy, ensuring that the insurance premium is paid to Aon (the broker) on time and for enforcing the contract with Segment Risk Ltd for provision of insurance.
RPS individual members are the beneficiaries under this policy and must comply with the obligations imposed on beneficiaries by Segment Risk Ltd, as communicated by us, to benefit from the cover.
What if I become aware of a claim that predates my RPS Professional Liability Insurance?
RPS Professional Liability Insurance includes up to 3 years retroactive cover (up to 10 years for claims related to product liability or liability under the Consumer Protection Act) – depending on how long you previously held claims-made cover before joining.
This means that if a historical claim relating to a time within the retroactive period before your policy start date (when you were insured by another insurer but were not aware of the claim) arises, RPS Professional Liability Insurance will cover this.
What if I become aware of a claim after I retire and no longer have RPS Professional Liability Insurance?
If you were not aware of the incident at the time, and only found out after you left RPS membership then it will depend on your circumstances:
- If your RPS Professional Liability Insurance ended due to you ceasing practice (due to disability, retirement, or death) then you could still seek support within the 3-year extended reporting period (10 years for claims related to product liability or liability under the Consumer Protection Act) that starts when your RPS membership ceases. This extended reporting period is free.
- If your RPS Professional Liability Insurance ended due to you moving your liability cover to another insurance provider, then you would need to obtain retroactive cover from your new provider for any incurred but not reported matters that arise from your RPS Professional Liability Insurance Policy Period.
I am a Qualified Person, does the policy cover my practice?
RPS Professional Liability Insurance will cover all duties that QPs undertake as part of their normal duties, however, the price of the policy premium for QPs is equal to that of Self-employed members (i.e. £261 + membership fees) regardless of employment status.
QPs premiums are higher due to the fact that the risk of their actions/inactions is compounded. Where a pharmacist could potentially harm one single patient if they made an error, a single error by a QP has the potential to impact multiple patients.
I am an Aesthetic Pharmacist, does the policy cover my practice?
RPS Professional Liability Insurance will cover all pharmacy duties plus botox and fillers that Aesthetic Pharmacists undertake as part of their normal duties, however, due to the higher risk profile of the role, the price of the policy premium for Aesthetic Pharmacists is equal to that of Self-employed members (i.e. £261 + membership fees) regardless of employment status.
If you do any other aesthetic procedures outside of prescribing and/or administering Botox and fillersfillers, you will need to seek specialist insurance.
I’d like to take out RPS Professional Liability Insurance, but I’m already insured until midway through my membership term.
RPS Professional Liability Insurance is competitively priced and so you may wish to consider whether it is more economical for you to cancel your current insurance policy and start your RPS Professional Liability Insurance straight away.
Your current insurer/ policy documents should explain if any refund/fee would be associated with this. However, if you’d prefer to wait, you can let our membership team know when your current insurance expires by completing this form, and we’ll contact you before then to add the RPS Professional Indemnity insurance into your membership benefits at a time that’s right for you.