Occupation Specific Insurances for Dentists

The main point to make here is that because of NHS sick pay you may not be able to claim on your income protection policy for six months. This means you might be paying for something you can’t claim. The solution is to review your cover to make sure it is set-up properly to tie-in with any NHS sick pay.

Policies should be reviewed as early as possible for two reasons:

First, the standard policy that most dentists arrange in their final year at university offers reviewable premiums. This means that your premiums may increase as you get older. While this might be acceptable for a few years, the policy could become very expensive in later years. Some policies may be reviewed in-line with general claims, which doesn’t offer much in the way of premium security. You should review your cover now and consider an insurer who offers dental-specific cover with a guaranteed premium. Locking into a guaranteed premium now will prevent future premium increases.

Second, making changes to your policy in later years could mean that some health conditions are excluded. For example, if you develop a musculo-skeletal issue and then decide to review your policy, future claims on the condition will be excluded.

In summary, don’t assume the policy you have is suitable for your circumstances, especially if you are moving to a new associate job or a salaried post. We can review your cover and recommend appropriate changes now. Our advisers are independent and will therefore recommend a policy that is the most suitable for your needs.

Most banks will insist on some ‘must have’ insurances when lending money to a purchaser. In brief, they will want to know that in ill health or death their loan will be repaid. These insurances will be required in advance of the ‘release of funds’ for your purchase.

Due to medical underwriting requirements it may take many weeks to arrange the required insurances, so it is important to understand what is required well in advance. We can liaise with your bank to ensure you have the right cover at the right time.

When you embark on a partnership in dentistry the last thing on your mind will be a dispute. However it is not uncommon for partnerships to breakdown in the event of ill-health or where one partner dies, leaving their partnership share to a non-dentist.

To mitigate potential issues we advise that all partnerships have suitable partnership life cover, written under trust with a suitable ‘cross-option agreement’. This is an affordable way to financially protect all parties.