What types of insurance are essential for a private GP practice?

The essentials at a glance

Insurance	Required?	Covers
Medical indemnity	Yes, by law for licensed doctors	Clinical negligence claims, and usually GMC, inquest and complaints support
Employers’ liability	Yes, if you employ anyone (some exemptions)	Claims from staff injured or made ill by their work
Public liability	Not compulsory in law, but the CQC in England asks for evidence	Injury to patients and visitors, or damage to their property, not caused by clinical care
Organisation-level clinical cover	Needed if your company engages or employs clinicians	Claims made against the practice itself

Medical indemnity

Section 44C of the Medical Act 1983 requires every licensed doctor to have indemnity or insurance appropriate to the risks of their practice. The NHS state-backed schemes do not cover private work, so you need your own cover for it. See indemnity for private GPs and where to get it.

If you run a company and employ or engage nurses, healthcare assistants or other GPs, decide whether each brings their own cover or you arrange it. The company can be named in a claim as well as the clinician, so ask your provider about cover for the organisation.

Employers’ liability

The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 requires most employers in Great Britain to insure against injury or illness their employees suffer at work. HSE guidance says:

• You must be insured for at least £5 million, with an authorised insurer.
• You must display the certificate where staff can read it, or make it available electronically.
• You can be fined up to £2,500 for every day you are without suitable insurance, and up to £1,000 for not displaying or producing the certificate.

It applies to anyone you employ under a contract of service, whatever you call them. A receptionist, a nurse or a healthcare assistant on your payroll counts. HSE lists two exemptions that matter for small practices: an unincorporated family business where all employees are close relatives, and a company whose only employee also owns 50% or more of the shares. A solo GP working through their own company with no staff may therefore not need it, until the day they hire someone.

Northern Ireland has its own equivalent law, enforced by HSENI, with the same £5 million minimum.

Public liability

HSE describes public liability insurance as generally voluntary. For a practice seeing patients, it is effectively essential. It covers claims such as a patient tripping over a cable in your waiting room, which your medical indemnity is not designed to cover.

In England, the CQC now lists a public and employer liability insurance quote or certificate among the documents every new provider must send. If you have no employees, a public liability certificate or quote is enough. If you have separate documents for each, you complete the CQC’s liability insurance supporting information form. Any quote must still be in date when you apply. See registering with the CQC.

If you plan an online primary care service, the CQC also asks for a medical indemnity quote or policy that covers online services, for applications made from 22 June 2026.

In Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, your service registers with Healthcare Inspectorate Wales, Healthcare Improvement Scotland or RQIA instead. Each sets its own application requirements, so check what insurance evidence it asks for.

Worth considering

• Buildings, contents and equipment. Your lease may require you to insure the building or contribute to the landlord’s policy. Diagnostic equipment and your fit-out need cover for theft, fire and damage.
• Business interruption. Pays towards lost income and ongoing costs if a flood or fire closes the premises.
• Cyber. You hold sensitive patient data. Cyber cover can help with incident response and recovery costs after a breach or ransomware attack. It does not replace good security.
• Motor for business use. If you do home visits, tell your motor insurer. Commuting-only cover may not apply.
• Legal expenses and directors’ and officers’ cover. Useful for employment disputes or claims against directors of a practice company.
• Income protection, life and critical illness. These protect you rather than the practice. A private GP has no NHS sick pay for private sessions, and a sole provider’s practice may stop if they stop.

Buying well

1. Use an insurer or broker authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. You can check on the FCA’s Financial Services Register.
2. Describe the practice accurately: clinical services, number of rooms, staff, equipment and whether you see patients at home.
3. Check how each policy treats clinical activity. Business liability policies often exclude professional or medical work, which is expected because your indemnity covers it. Make sure nothing falls between the two.
4. Match renewal dates where you can, and keep every certificate. HSE advises keeping a record of past employers’ liability cover because some illnesses appear decades later.
5. Review cover when you add a service, a room, a member of staff or a new site.

Budget for all of this in your plan. See start-up costs.