Professional bodies face new independent insurance rival

Designed 'by optometrists for optometrists' and established by a former FODO chairman, the policy claims to be competitively priced, providing cover for the expanding roles of optometric practice, including therapeutics, shared care, special advisory roles and behavioural optometry.
Available both for individuals and for practices as a whole, it offers cover which it says is the same as or better than its rivals Ð for example it limits its medical malpractice cover to £2m for any one claim in any one period of insurance, compared, it says, to £1m for any one claim from the AOP.
UK Special Risks' entry into the insurance market represents the first scheme to compete with the policies offered by the AOP and FODO since Shepherds withdrew from the market three years ago.
Prices are £196.50 for optometrists and £72.50 for a dispensing optician. These premiums can be reduced by £20 per person when a practice buys cover collectively.
UK Special Risks, based in Rochester, Kent, has experience in the dental, construction, homeopathic and cleaning industries among others and has developed its optical scheme over the past year with Eros Business Consultants, managed by former FODO chairman Bob Hutchinson.
A panel of optometrist advisers, including frequently called expert witness Geoff Roberson, have helped develop the scheme, and will be involved in claims handling to ensure as smooth a ride as possible for practitioners who have a claim made against them.
Hutchinson estimated that around 1,000 practitioners were affected by Shepherds withdrawal from the market. 'It will be a breath of fresh air for many people that no optical body is involved,' he said.
UK Special Risks, part of the GSI group, also hopes its scheme will allow practices and practitioners to resolve the problem of over-insurance where practitioners who are covered individually by the AOP are also covered by their practice's FODO cover.
rob.mossrbi.co.uk