Why do acupuncturists need insurance?
Injury or illness
Treatment for one of your clients has successfully stimulated energy flow along their meridians and has helped ease the symptoms of a long-standing respiratory illness. However, you receive a call out of the blue to inform you their symptoms have flared since the last session and a claim is now being filed against you. Your combined professional, treatment and public liability insurance policy can help to protect your acupuncture business against such problems. Get financial help with compensation, legal expenses or the medical fees you could be asked to pay.
Damage or distress
After a session of acupressure, your client discovers their t-shirt has been torn on your treatment table. Separately, someone slips on an unmarked wet floor in your clinic bathroom and sustains a rib injury from the fall. Should these clients decide to make a claim against your business, for injury or property damage, the cost of defending yourself could quickly mount. As a business offering acupuncture therapies, you will regularly deal with members of the public. A combined professional, treatment and public liability insurance policy could help financially if they claim.
Personal injury
Healing others is your primary focus and working with fine needles requires a steady hand. Outside of working hours, you drop a heavy weight on your wrist at the gym – after a visit to A&E, you’re told you need to wear a cast. With one hand out of action, you’re unable to treat clients for over a month. Personal accident insurance can keep your finances in order by paying a weekly sum if you or a key employee can’t work for more than two weeks.
What insurance is available for acupuncturists?
Professional treatment liability insurance and public liability insurance can be helpful for acupuncturists. So, we have combined them into one product – professional, treatment and public liability insurance. Though we talk about them separately below, professional, treatment and public liability insurance is a combined cover with one combined limit. You can get public liability cover as an acupuncturist by purchasing this combined cover. Contact us to discuss your cover needs.
Professional treatment liability insurance
For you to be able to enhance a client’s wellbeing, being hands on is often essential. Acupuncture requires careful attention and if someone says you didn’t apply the required care during a session – injuring them in the process – insurance can help protect your business financially. Should you face a claim for malpractice, or even negligence, a professional, treatment and public liability insurance policy with Hiscox can help you defend or settle the case.
Public liability insurance
You regularly interact with members of the public through the service your acupuncture business provides. With this type of consistent contact comes risk – a patient could trip over loose carpet in your waiting room, or a passer-by might hurt themselves on the A-board outside your clinic. Should someone claim their property was damaged or they’ve been injured and blame your business, professional, treatment and public liability cover can help with legal costs and potential compensation expenses.
Employers' liability insurance
When word spreads about your business, you may find your appointment book is busier than you can manage alone. As a result, you might decide to take on another acupuncture therapist – in this instance, an employers’ liability insurance policy may be required by law (external link). This type of cover assists with legal and compensation expenses in the event an employee claims they’ve fallen ill or become injured due to their work for your business.
As a practitioner of acupuncture, other covers could also be relevant to add to your policy – such as personal accident insurance and cover relating to equipment, cyber and data and property.
These are just some of the types of business insurance we can offer for acupuncturists. We can provide other specific types of cover and build them into a policy that’s tailored to the exact needs of your business.
Get your quoteInsurance for acupuncturists: FAQs
What equipment insurance do I need?
When it comes to protecting your acupuncture equipment, there are different types of business insurance to consider adding to your policy.
Kit that’s always used in one location may require different cover in comparison to items that are taken out and about. Acupuncture practitioners who welcome patients into their clinic may benefit from protecting their therapy table, needles and guide tubes with property insurance.
Mobile acupuncturists without a fixed location, however, might require portable equipment cover to take care of their valuable therapy kit.
Can I include other types of treatment as part of my acupuncture insurance?
Should you offer other types of treatment to your clients, ensure you state what this involves on your quote form and that all business activities are declared. Hiscox can then review your case accordingly.
The act of restoring the balance of vital energy in the body is closely linked to other pain management and wellness therapies. Due to this, as a complementary health practitioner, you might offer other types of services in addition to acupuncture.
So, whether you’re dealing with a musculoskeletal complaint or a circulatory disorder, the correct insurance can help you work with confidence. If you perform services such as physiotherapy and osteopathy, take care to tell us about these activities when you buy insurance. If you only purchase insurance for acupuncture work, this is all that is covered.
Do I need proof of qualifications to get insurance?
No, you don’t need to produce your acupuncture qualifications in order to get business insurance with Hiscox.
However, it may be important to note that if you need to make a claim, you will likely be asked to prove that you’re a qualified practitioner. Providing inaccurate or incomplete information may affect our ability to pay out in the event of a claim, so if you aren’t sure how your profession is classed or if you perform additional services, tell us about your situation at the time of applying for insurance.
Should you require further information about qualification requirements to practise this ancient therapy, head to the British Acupuncture Council website (external link).
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