Why choose Practice Cover for your

locum insurance

needs?

• Our aim is to be competitive. We offer two levels of locum insurance, including a low-cost option.
• Our premiums are not age-related, so you won't find that you have to pay more for older colleagues and we don't charge higher premiums for women or for smokers.
• We can cover any number of people, from one person upwards - we don't impose a minimum.
• You can choose whether you want to insure against illness and accident only or whether you'd also like cover against being on maternity/paternity/adoption leave, being suspended, suffering a family bereavement, domestic trauma and more.
• We'll cover you worldwide and, with a few exceptions, we'll even cover sporting and leisure activities.
• You can get an instant quote online now by clicking on your occupation in the panel on the right.

Or request a call back.

Why locum insurance?

GPs
GP partners - locum insurance protects partnership profits if you or one of the other partners can't work due to illness or accident.

Salaried GPs - your contract will probably say that you are responsible for funding a locum in case of absence through illness or accident.

The Statement of Financial Entitlements details the potential locum allowances paid by PCTs. In reality, funding constraints mean that many PCTs are unable to make any payment at all. The BMA General Practitioners Committee's Guidance for GPs dated June 2004 (revised February 2009) states:

'... practices should consider purchasing insurance for locum cover during sickness absence to cover all of their salaried GPs (and possibly other staff as well). This would ensure that a practice would not be out of pocket in the event that a salaried GP had to take sick leave.'

This means that, for most practices, locum insurance can be considered an essential.

Dentists
Dentists with a UDA commitment need to consider the cost of locums. NHS practices should expect to pay a minimum of £350 a day to cover a typical contract of around 30 UDAs per day, plus 'per UDA' payments for additional UDAs, with locums for private practices frequently charging in excess of £400 a day, depending on the location.

In both NHS and private practice, locum insurance can mean patient care continues unaffected while practitioners are incapacitated through illness or accident.

Vets
No-one wants to turn patients away. Locum insurance can fund the cost of a locum veterinary surgeon or veterinary nurse to cover when the owner or a member of staff is ill or has an accident and can't work. Locum insurance tides the practice over at an otherwise difficult time.

Opticians
With increasing competition it's important to be available and prolonged absence due to illness or accident can place increased workloads on remaining practitioners and result in appointments having to be cancelled. Locum insurance can fund a replacement, taking away the financial strain at a difficult time.

Allied Health Professionals
If you run your own practice you can choose to buy locum insurance just for yourself or you can insure your staff and any self-employed practitioners as well. Attractive group discounts mean that it is often advantageous for practitioners to band together.