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Physiotherapy insurance should be a key consideration for any practising physiotherapist. If you are a member of a professional body, you may be required to hold certain types of cover.
However, whether you are required to or not, it’s worthwhile ensuring that you are protected against the potential risks facing those in the field of physiotherapy.
Insurance for physiotherapists is not a single product but a group of covers - including public liability and professional indemnity insurance for physiotherapists – that you can add and remove to suit the needs of your practice.
Cover at a glance:
- Includes public liability and private indemnity insurance
- Protection for injury or adverse reaction claims
- Suitable for freelance and clinic-based practitioners
What is physiotherapy insurance?
Physiotherapy insurance from Markel Direct is built around your needs, so will have the types and level of cover to protect your business should something go wrong.
Physiotherapists insurance can cover you against a range of risks specific to your business. This can include:
- A claim that a course of physiotherapy has not given the expected results (professional indemnity insurance)
- A claim that you have given a client incorrect advice (professional indemnity insurance)
- A client suffering an injury or illness because of your work (public liability insurance)
- An accident which causes damage to your client’s property (public liability insurance)
- An accident such as a leak leaving your clinic unusable (office insurance)
- Sensitive client data stored on your work laptop being hacked (cyber insurance)
- A contract dispute with a client (legal expenses insurance)
- An injury sustained in work that prevents you from working (personal accident insurance)
If you provide therapy to clients virtually, for example through Zoom or Skype, our physiotherapy insurance policy automatically provides cover. With this, your sessions must be done on a live basis and to your client (or clients, if part of a group session) only.
Cover starting at
£7 a month*
Based on a physiotherapist requiring £1 million professional indemnity and public liability cover.
Why do physiotherapists need insurance?
Regardless of how long you have worked as a physiotherapist, accidents can happen. An allegation that a treatment has caused further injury, a client hurting themselves after tripping over an exercise aid, or damage caused to a costly therapy table could cause significant disruption to your business.
Specialist physiotherapy insurance from Markel Direct provides wide ranging cover against these risks and many more. If you're a member of an association like The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) or The Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care (ACPRC), you can tailor your insurance to meet the requirements of your institute or association.
Professional indemnity insurance for physiotherapists
Sometimes clients aren’t fully satisfied with their treatment. They may feel they have been given bad advice that has made their injury worse, or their treatment has not had the desired results and they want to recoup their loss. Whether they are justified or not, you may find yourself facing a lawsuit.
Professional indemnity insurance - also known as professional malpractice insurance - offers comprehensive protection against the cost of defending your business against allegations of professional negligence and if unsuccessful, the cost of damages awarded against you. As a practicing physiotherapist, you should consider obtaining professional indemnity cover to protect your business against such claims. Get a quote now in under 90 seconds.
There are potential risks associated for practicing physiotherapists, from unhappy clients, equipment damage to cyber-attacks. It’s worthwhile considering obtaining the correct level of insurance, to act as a safety net.
Example policy documents
If you have an existing policy with us, please sign in to view your policy documents.
Below you will find examples of the documents provided.
Which insurance cover do physiotherapists need?
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Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance covers the cost of defending your business (including damages awarded against you if unsuccessful) if someone is injured, or their property damaged, which arises from you going about your business. For example, a client alleges they were unable to walk for several weeks after their foot was damaged during a session and they are seeking compensation for their injury. Public liability insurance is vital for all physiotherapists that come into physical contact with their clients. Limits are available from £1m to £5m.
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Cyber and data risks insurance
Cyber and data risks insurance pays the costs of restoring data and equipment, informing clients, meeting ransom demands and loss of your net profit following a cyber-attack. It also pays your legal defence costs and damages you are legally liable to pay to other parties. As a physiotherapist, you may hold confidential information about your clients on computers and other internet connected devices, such as the therapies and treatments you provide to them, if so, you should consider adding this cover.
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Legal expenses insurance
Legal expenses insurance pays your legal costs and expenses for contract disputes, tax enquiries (including IR35), attending jury service, debt recovery, personal injury, as well as any award you are required to pay following an employment dispute with an employee. There is a limit of £100,000.
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Occupational personal accident
Occupational personal accident insurance provides a weekly payment if you are unable to work due to temporary total disablement (subject to a 14-day deferment period). due to an accident at work, or when travelling to and from work. In the event of loss of limbs, sight, speech, hearing, permanent total disablement or death, a lump sum would be paid out. If you were unable to treat your physiotherapy clients following an occupational accident, would you struggle to maintain an income? If yes, you should consider including this cover to your physiotherapist insurance policy.
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Directors and officers insurance
Directors and officers insurance covers the costs of defending you as a director or officer of your company against allegations of wrongful acts and any damages subsequently awarded against you. Limits range from £100,000 to £5m.
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Portable equipment and office insurance
Portable equipment insurance covers laptops, mobile phones, and portable equipment you use for treatment against accidental damage (including theft) anywhere in the world. If you have business premises, office insurance covers your office buildings, contents and computer equipment against accidental damage (including theft) whilst on your premises.
How it works
Choose the cover you require
Get a quote you need in minutes
Buy online or contact one of our advisors
How much does physiotherapists’ insurance cost?
At Markel Direct, we offer physiotherapist insurance from £7 a month for £1 million worth of professional indemnity insurance and public liability cover. When it comes to insurance, the cost changes from business to business depending on;
- The size of your business - your turnover and whether you have any employees
- The level of cover you choose
To get a better idea of how much you’ll pay, get a physiotherapists insurance quote online. Click the Build my quote button to get an online quote in 90 seconds.
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Our simple quote process will help you to find the right business insurance for your individual needs.
Frequently asked questions
These frequently asked questions are designed to help you and include questions relating to policy cover, pricing and ‘technical’ terms.
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Why should I choose Markel Direct's Insurance
Markel Direct has over 25 years of experience insuring contractors, consultants and self-employed professionals. We insure over 200,000 micro businesses and are highly rated by our customers at Feefo.com.
We are a division of Markel International, a Lloyd’s of London market insurer that wrote gross premium totals of £2.4bn in 2023
To talk about your insurance requirements and better understand our cover, call us on 0800 640 6600 or get a quick quote online.
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Am I covered to treat clients with terminal illnesses (such as cancer)?
Yes. Our insurance for physiotherapists policy provides cover for treating clients with terminal illnesses.
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Am I covered to treat pregnant clients?
Yes. Our physiotherapy insurance policy provides cover for treating pregnant clients.
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What limit of cover should I choose?
Many clients and industry bodies with regulatory requirements will require you to have a minimum level of physiotherapist insurance cover for you to undertake a contract, so it's worth checking this before you arrange cover. If you're unsure, give some thought to a worst-case scenario and the likely costs involved in putting your mistake right. We offer a range of limits on insurance, so you're sure to find the right cover for your business.
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How are Markel Direct regulated?
Markel Direct is a trading name of Markel International Insurance Company Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Find out more on the Financial Services Register.
We are a division of Markel International, a Lloyd’s of London market insurer that wrote gross premium totals of £2.4bn in 2023
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