What are the costs associated with medical indemnity insurance for private GPs?

Why there is no standard price

The version of this article we published before quoted a typical annual range for private GP indemnity. We have removed it because providers do not publish private GP rates and we could not verify any range. Two GPs with the same number of sessions can receive very different quotes because the risk of their work differs.

What you can do is understand how the price is built, so you can plan your budget and give your provider the information it needs for an accurate quote.

What drives the price

Factor	Why it matters
How much you work	Medical Protection’s member guidance says its core GP subscription is based on your status, average weekly sessions and activities, and its current application form asks for your weekly sessions. More sessions means more exposure to claims.
Private income	For work outside an NHS primary medical services contract, Medical Protection’s member guidance says the Claims Protection subscription is calculated on your projected gross revenue from that work and the activities you do. Its current GP application form still asks for that projected revenue.
What you do	The MDU lists work likely to need an additional subscription, including private GP services (online and telemedicine included), surgical procedures outside the NHS scheme, cosmetic work, weight-loss clinics, travel and vaccination clinics, occupational health and expert witness work.
How you consult	Remote consulting, minor surgery and aesthetics are all things Medical Protection asks GPs to declare.
Where you and your patients are	The MDU flags any clinical work outside England and Wales as needing a conversation. Patients abroad, even by video, need checking.
Claims history and experience	Medical Protection says the cost depends on your field, your experience and your claims history.
Type of cover	Occurrence-based and claims-made cover are priced differently over a career. See below.

If you keep NHS work alongside

In England and Wales, the state-backed schemes (CNSGP and GMPI) cover clinical negligence claims from your NHS GP work. Your MDO subscription for the NHS part therefore pays mainly for advice, GMC support, inquests and complaints. Private work is added on top, and it is the part that carries a claims cost.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland there is no equivalent state-backed scheme for GP contractors, so your MDO subscription already carries the claims risk from NHS work. Private sessions are added to that. See whether you need different indemnity for private work for the scheme details.

How the type of cover changes the cost

Medical Protection describes its GP membership as occurrence-based, and the MDU offers occurrence-based membership too. With occurrence-based cover you pay while you practise, and you can ask for help later with any incident from your membership years, with nothing more to buy when you stop.

Claims-made cover, including most commercial insurance, only responds to claims reported while it is in force. It often costs less in the early years, but when you retire, move provider or take a long break you usually need to buy run-off cover. The MDU’s Northern Ireland GP guide, for example, says an additional subscription is needed for extended reporting rights except in specific cases such as retirement after ten continuous years of claims-made membership. See claims-made and occurrence-based cover.

Costs people miss

• Adding a service mid-year. Starting aesthetics, weight management or a new procedure can change your subscription. Tell your provider before you start.
• Growth in private income. If your cover is priced on private earnings, your renewal will rise as the practice grows. Build that into your plan.
• Cover for your organisation. If you run a company and engage other clinicians, the company can be sued as well as the clinician. Organisation-level cover is a separate cost. Medical Protection’s corporate associate membership, for example, is claims-made.
• Staff. Nurses and healthcare assistants in a private service need their own cover or cover arranged by you.
• Run-off if your cover is claims-made.

Don’t under-declare to save money

Medical Protection’s membership terms say that failing to tell it about changes in your scope of practice, income or sessions could lead to delay, suspension or withdrawal of membership benefits. MDO help is discretionary, so an inaccurate declaration puts you at real risk at exactly the moment you need help.

The law also requires cover that is appropriate to “the nature and extent of the risks” of your practice (section 44C of the Medical Act 1983). A cheap policy that does not cover what you do does not meet that test.

Tax

The MDU, Medical Protection Society and MDDUS are on HMRC’s list of approved professional bodies (List 3), so employed doctors can claim tax relief on their subscriptions. Medical Protection says indemnity is an allowable business expense. If you are self-employed or work through a company, confirm the treatment with your accountant. See tax implications of private practice.

Getting a quote you can rely on

1. Write down every service, how you will deliver it (face to face, video, phone, online forms), your expected sessions and your projected private income for the first year.
2. Say whether you will work alone, through a company, under practising privileges or for a clinic, and whether you will employ or engage anyone.
3. Ask each provider whether the quote is occurrence-based or claims-made, whether there are limits, and what run-off would cost.
4. Get at least two quotes in writing, then compare like for like. See where to get private GP indemnity.
5. Put the figure in your budget. See start-up costs.