Medical Malpractice Insurance for clinics and healthcare providers
Cover for the clinical side of a healthcare business: claims that treatment, diagnosis or advice harmed a patient. Compare policies for the organisation and its clinicians through brokers who place treatment risks for clinics and providers.
- Entity cover for the clinic, not just individual clinicians
- Defence costs, compensation and hearing representation
- Retroactive cover and run-off handled at placement
Reviewed October 2026 by the MyBusinessComparison.com editorial team
What is medical malpractice insurance?
Medical malpractice insurance covers a healthcare provider against claims that treatment, diagnosis, advice or care was negligent and injured a patient. It pays compensation and legal defence costs, and can protect the organisation as well as the clinicians who work for it. It is also called medical indemnity or treatment risk cover.
It is one part of a wider healthcare business insurance programme. Premises, equipment and staff injuries sit on other sections; this policy deals only with what happens to patients as a result of clinical work.
Most policies are written on a claims-made basis. They respond to claims first made while the policy is in force, provided the treatment took place after the retroactive date, which is why continuous cover and run-off matter more here than for most business insurance.
Medical malpractice insurance at a glance
- Suits
- Clinics, private hospitals, practice groups and healthcare providers with clinical staff
- Pays for
- Patient compensation, defence costs and representation at hearings
- Basis
- Usually claims-made, with a retroactive date
- Who is covered
- The organisation, plus employed clinicians named or described on the schedule
- Rated on
- Treatments offered, clinical team, patient volumes, claims and limits
- Not included
- Premises damage and staff injury, which sit on a commercial combined policy or similar
What does medical malpractice insurance cover?
Treatment risk policies vary between insurers more than most business covers. These are the sections clinics and providers usually look for.
Clinical negligence
Claims that a patient was harmed by treatment, a missed or late diagnosis, a prescribing error or poor aftercare. This is the core of the policy.
Entity cover for the organisation
Claims brought against the clinic or company itself, including for the work of employed clinicians and failures in systems such as triage, referrals or follow-up.
Employed clinicians and support staff
Doctors, nurses, therapists, technicians and healthcare assistants working for you, within the treatments declared to the insurer.
Defence costs
Solicitors, barristers and expert witnesses to defend a claim, paid either in addition to the limit or within it, depending on the insurer.
Hearings and inquests
Representation at professional conduct hearings, coroners' inquests and complaints investigations linked to clinical work.
Read more about commercial legal expenses cover
Patient confidentiality
Claims for breach of confidentiality or loss of patient records. Larger data breaches and hacking are better placed on a separate cyber policy.
Read more about cyber insurance
Public and products liability
Patients and visitors injured on the premises, and claims from products you supply or apply, such as skin treatments or dressings.
Read more about public liability insurance
Run-off cover
Continued protection for past treatment after the clinic closes, is sold or changes insurer, as claims can arrive many years after the event.
Covers that sit alongside a malpractice policy
- Employers' liability: injury and illness to your own staff, including needlestick and manual handling injuries
- Management liability: claims against directors and the company over governance, employment practices and inspections
- Equipment breakdown: lasers, scanners and diagnostic machines that a property section covers only for damage
- Professional indemnity: for non-clinical advice, such as occupational health reports or medico-legal work, where not covered by the malpractice policy
Which healthcare providers need malpractice cover?
Any organisation that treats, examines or advises patients through its own staff needs treatment risk cover. These are the providers we most often help.
Need cover for the whole practice? Premises, equipment and staff sit under healthcare business insurance. For providers outside healthcare, start from our industry guides.
- Private hospitals and day surgery units: surgical and anaesthetic risks, usually with high limits and close scrutiny of practising privileges, with the buildings under commercial property cover
- Private GP and walk-in services: diagnosis and prescribing claims for work outside state-backed schemes
- Dental groups: corporate cover for the practice alongside each dentist's own arrangements, with boards often adding directors' and officers' cover
- Aesthetic and cosmetic clinics: injectables, lasers and skin treatments, where insurers check qualifications procedure by procedure
- Physiotherapy and sports injury clinics: manual therapy, rehabilitation and injection therapy
- Diagnostic imaging and laboratories: missed or misreported findings, plus breakdown cover for scanners and analysers
- Mental health and therapy providers: psychiatry, psychology and counselling services, including online sessions
- Occupational health providers: assessments for employers, combining clinical cover with professional indemnity
- Nursing and healthcare staffing agencies: clinicians supplied to other providers, alongside recruitment agency cover
- Home care providers with nursing: clinical tasks carried out in patients' homes, with personal accident cover often added for staff on the road
- Optometry and audiology groups: eye examinations, hearing tests and fitting of devices
- Online and remote healthcare services: video consultations and digital prescribing, where territory and platform risks need checking alongside technology cover
How much does medical malpractice insurance cost?
Insurers price treatment risk on what you do to patients and how well it is controlled. These are the factors that move the premium most.
Treatments and specialties
Surgery, obstetrics, anaesthesia and cosmetic procedures sit at the higher end. Diagnostic and therapy services are usually rated lower.
Clinical team
The number, roles and qualifications of clinicians, and whether self-employed practitioners rely on their own cover or yours.
Patient volumes and turnover
More appointments mean more exposure. Insurers often ask for activity broken down by treatment type.
Claims and complaints history
Past claims, open complaints and any adverse inspection findings, with what was changed in response.
Limits and retroactive date
Higher limits cost more. A long, unbroken retroactive date protects past work but adds to the exposure the insurer takes on.
Clinical governance
Consent processes, record keeping, audit, incident reporting and checks on clinicians' registration all count in your favour.
What medical malpractice insurance excludes
Exclusions differ between insurers, so it is worth reading these against your own services.
- Treatments not declared to the insurer, or carried out by staff without the required qualifications
- Claims arising from treatment before the retroactive date
- Incidents you knew about before the policy started but did not disclose
- Promises of a particular result, such as a cosmetic outcome, beyond normal clinical care
- Self-employed consultants and contractors, unless the policy specifically extends to them
- Dishonest, deliberate or criminal conduct, and fines or penalties
- Treatment of patients based in certain overseas territories, often including the USA and Canada
- Injury to your own staff, which falls under employers' liability
Insured malpractice cover or discretionary indemnity?
Many clinicians hold discretionary indemnity through a defence organisation. Clinics and providers usually also need an insured policy, and the two work in different ways.
| Feature | Insured malpractice policy | Discretionary indemnity |
|---|---|---|
| How it pays | A contract: the insurer must meet valid claims within the policy terms | The provider decides case by case whether to assist |
| Who it protects | The organisation and the staff named or described on the schedule | Usually the individual member only |
| Systems failures | Entity cover can respond to failings in the clinic's own processes | Not designed to protect the organisation |
| Limits | Set out on the schedule for each claim and in total | No fixed limit, but no contractual right to help |
| Usually suits | Clinics, hospitals and providers employing clinical staff | Individual clinicians, often alongside an employer's policy |
How to arrange medical malpractice insurance
Malpractice proposals are detailed. Preparing the information below in advance helps a broker present the risk well.
List every treatment
Include procedures, prescribing, diagnostics and any remote services, with annual volumes for each.
Map your clinical team
Employed staff, self-employed practitioners, their qualifications and how their cover is checked.
Confirm your cover history
Current insurer, retroactive date, limits and any gaps, so continuity can be kept.
Share claims and complaints
Every claim and notified incident, with outcomes and the changes made afterwards.
Compare terms closely
Check entity cover, defence costs, contractor cover, territorial limits and run-off, as well as price.
Changing malpractice insurer?
Tell us about your services and clinical team and a specialist broker will compare cover.
Compare quotesMedical malpractice insurance questions
How much does medical malpractice insurance cost?
It depends on the treatments you offer, the size and make-up of your clinical team, patient volumes, limits, retroactive date and claims history. Surgical and cosmetic work is usually priced well above therapy or diagnostic services.
Is medical malpractice the same as professional indemnity?
They are closely related. Medical malpractice is the healthcare form of professional indemnity, written to cover injury to patients from treatment. General professional indemnity policies often exclude bodily injury, so they are not a substitute for clinical cover.
Does the clinic's policy cover self-employed practitioners?
Not always. Many policies cover employed staff automatically but treat self-employed consultants separately. Some insurers will extend cover to named practitioners; others require each to hold their own indemnity, which the clinic is expected to check.
What does claims-made mean for malpractice cover?
The policy responds to claims first made during the policy period, for treatment after the retroactive date. Keeping cover continuous with the same retroactive date, and arranging run-off when you stop, avoids gaps for past treatment.
Do we need run-off cover if the clinic closes or is sold?
Usually yes. Patient claims can be made years after treatment, and once a claims-made policy ends there is no cover for new claims. Run-off keeps protection in place for past work for an agreed period.
Is NHS work covered by our malpractice policy?
NHS clinical work is often covered by state-backed indemnity schemes, so private policies usually focus on private work. Providers doing both need to confirm with their broker which work falls under which arrangement.
Can aesthetic clinics get medical malpractice insurance?
Yes, but insurers look closely at each procedure and the qualifications of whoever performs it. Injectables, lasers and skin treatments are commonly insured, while some surgical cosmetic work is placed only with specialist insurers.
Does malpractice insurance cover complaints to a professional body?
Many policies pay for representation at professional conduct hearings and inquests connected with clinical work. The limits for this are often lower than the main limit, so they are worth checking.
How do I get a medical malpractice insurance quote?
Request terms on this page and a broker who handles treatment risks will get in contact. Your treatment list with volumes, clinical team details, current retroactive date, limits and claims history are what insurers ask for, and having them ready keeps continuity of cover intact.
Compare medical malpractice insurance
Treatment risk cover for your organisation and clinical team, placed by a broker who understands healthcare claims.