Insurer offers professional-indemnity cover for Specsavers JV optometrists

From comments made to Insight, it ses some optometrists outside the Specsavers sphere are interested in having such a choice too.
If that were to come about, it could mean some of those optometrists would let go their OAA mbership as the main reason they are mbers is for PI cover, although that could bring th certain probls, such as gaining access to continuing professional development material being either more expensive or more difficult to obtain.
For OAA, splitting mbership fees and professional indnity cover could mean loss of income for both national office and states and territories divisions, who share income from mbership fees.
Until now, Specsavers joint-venture partners, like almost all optometrists in Australia, have been insured through their mbership of a state division of Optometrists Association Australia, the six of whom own the national OAA.
The decision to make arrangents with Aon was apparently made after a delegation of Specsavers joint-venture partners met with senior managent of the company, expressing concern that, unlike the situation in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, there is no transparency or breakdown between the cost of professional-indnity cover and the cost of mbership fees covering other services provided by their professional association.
Insight sought clarification of OAA’s position on 25 July, and were advised the organisation had met with Specsavers in late May on the subject. We were asked what angle or type of story we were writing and if we were referring to a document from Specsavers.
Our reply was that the first question would be answered in our forthcoming print-version report and that we were not referring to such a document.
OAA responded to our inquiries on 29 July.
A key issue is that of disclosure to OAA mbers of the proportion of their annual mbership fee of about $1930 that goes to paying Avant Insurance for PI cover.
In both the United Kingdom and New Zealand, that is made known to mbers of the AOP and the NZOA respectively, but not here. And that is what the Specsavers joint-venture-partner optometrists and of late others want to know as far as OAA is concerned.
If that split is made known, then OAA mbers will be able to assess the cost/benefits offered by all insurers as well as those for the other services provided by OAA, including CPD-points managent, political and Medicare negotiations and lobbying, education-institutions liaison, advice for mbers, publications, and conferences organisation and managent.
It could well end up being a matter of cutting the financial cloth to suit by OAA’s national office and state and territories divisions.
OAA’s response:The chief executive officer of Optometrists Association Australia, Ms Genevieve Quilty, in her 29 July reply to Insight’s queries said: “Optometrists in Australia have had the opportunity to purchase PII from any insurer. From July 2010 each optometrist has been required to hold PII to the level required by the Optometry Board of Australia as per the PII Registration Standard and accompanying Guidelines. Every year each optometrist is required to declare they hold an OBA compliant PII policy when they register as an optometrist.
“OAA for some time has purchased a master PII policy on behalf of mbers. Our current PII policy is held with Avant and has been for 10 years. Avant is one of Australia’s largest medical defence organisations.
“OAA collectively has agreed not to split mbership between mbership with and without PII.
“The reason for this is that our insurance is integrated into mber services. Mbers of the OAA don’t purchase our PII as an individual policy for an individual mber – the several alternative policies available on the market are held as individual policies. The association purchases a whole-association insurance policy as a core service for all mbers. We provide significant additional value added by the association such as:
– The provision of advice to mbers with respect to PII;
– support to mbers who are the subject of a PII complaint; and
– educational activities to support all mbers to understand the policy and to identify and reduce their risks in their own practice of the profession.
“The association also provides independent profession-wide and individual guidance and assistance on clinical and other aspects of practice, much of which would have indirect benefits in reducing mbers’ risks.
“The current range of OAA mber services supports optometrists to be flexible in how they work: for example, mbers can move seamlessly between full, part-time or acadic work, corporate or independent practice, or as a locum and volunteer work (our policy covers this), while benefiting from professional representation and services (both state and national) that are focused on providing useful and relevant services, including PII to the individual mber as well as developing the profession as a whole.”
PI insurance costs in New Zealand: In New Zealand, it costs optometrists $NZ85 a year for $500,000 PI insurance cover, $120 for $1 million cover and $157 for $1.5 million.
Statutory liability insurance costs an additional $185 for $1 million cover and $365 for $5 million.
Professional Indnity Insurance is a special type of liability insurance covering loss caused by a legal liability to pay compensation to a client or other third party arising from a breach of professional duty. Such policies are usually underwritten on a ‘claims made and notified’ basis in contrast with the ‘occurrence’ basis of other forms of liability insurance.
Statutory Liability Insurance relates to the costs of defence and insurance of certain fines or penalties under various statutes.
Mbership of the New Zealand Association of Optometrists costs $NZ1,305 a year, not including the above insurance priums.