Frequently Asked Questions
"How do I join the PLI
scheme?"
Please contact your local Unite
regional office
Administration of the
Professional Liability Insurance Scheme
Professional Liability Insurance
(PLI)
for health professionals - information for members and
employers
We are changing the way the
Professional Liability Insurance scheme is administered.
- Your regional office will send you a
letter confirming that you are in the scheme and covered by PLI for
your employed work.
- New joiners will receive a letter
from their regional office confirming that they have joined the
scheme and are covered for PLI.
- You may apply for PLI
online.
History
If you have been paying your Unite subscription by Direct Debit
- from 1 July 2011 your PLI subscription will be taken in the same
way as your union subscription. £1.25 will be added to the
amount we take on your direct debit. You will not need to
take any action (unless you wish to advise us that you will no
longer contribute).
If you pay your Unite subscription by Check-off (i.e. via your
employer) - your PLI subscription can be collected in the same way
as your union subscription, but you will need to advise your
employer that an extra £1.25 per month should be deducted as part
of your check-off payment.
If you have already sent us your renewal cheque for £15 for the
year from 1 July, that amount will be returned or refunded to you
and instead, the money will be collected monthly with your union
subscription, as described above.
If you still have queries concerning your PLI cover, you should
contact your local Unite regional
office
Frequently Asked Questions regarding the administration
of the PLI scheme from 1 July
2011
JOIN THE UNITE PLI
SCHEME
"I wish to join Unite and also subscribe to the PLI
as I am a pharmacist. How do I do that?"
Please complete the Unite health sector application form that
you may download
here or
join online . Once you receive
confirmation of your membership, please contact your local Unite
regional office and tell them that you would also like to subscribe
to the PLI scheme. They
will adjust the level of your subscriptions to include the
PLI
payment. Payment by direct debit will make this process
simple.
"I have heard that Unite offers professional
liability insurance to members for £15 a year. I am already a
member of Unite. I pay my union contributions by direct
debit. How do I apply to the PLI
scheme?"
Please contact your Unite local
regional office and they will make the
appropriate adjustments for you.
CONFIRMATION OF UNITE PLI SCHEME
COVER
"Will I receive a letter confirming I have
paid?"
Ask your Local Unite regional
office
"Will I receive a letter confirming I have
joined?"
Ask your Local Unite
regional office
"I had a call from a dental nurse who has taken
out PLI
asking whether she would receive any confirmation or an insurance
certificate. What do I say to her?"
From September 2011 you will be able to check online via the
Unite website, via
"My Unite" In the meantime you can check through
your Unite
regional office
If, in the meantime, the member needs confirmation for their
employer or regulator, a pro-forma is provided to all Unite
regional offices for this purpose. The member may ask the
regional office for this letter - click
here to download letter
"Hi - we had a query from a member, do they receive a
certificate for the PLI cover?"
Details of the PLI cover, including
the insurance policy, may be viewed on the Health Sector part of
the Unite web site - click
here
In the meantime the letter may be obtained from the Unite regional
office. Click here to
download letter
PLI SUBSCRIPTION PAYMENT BY
CHECK-OFF
"I have contacted the pay office to arrange for my
check-off payment for Unite to now include £1.25 per month for my
PLI payment and they told me that Unite would have to send them
some form of confirmation to authorise this
arrangement."
You may download a pro-forma letter from the Unite health sector
website that you may complete, sign and send to your employer,
confirming that we are asking them to take an extra £1.25 per month
to cover your PLI cover. Please
click here to download letter
"I am a member of Unite, paying my subscriptions
by check-off. I would like to join the PLI scheme. How
can I do this?
Please inform your employer that you would like an extra £1.25
deducted for your union payments each month. If your
employer requires it, please download the
pro-forma letter, complete your details, sign the letter and
send or give to your employer.
"Sorry to bother you again but my insurance runs out
today. Is there an up-date on how I can make this
additonal payment along with my union subscription via
Check-off?"
You need to inform your employer that you wish them to take an
extra £1.25 per month via Check-off. If your employer tells
you that they require a request from Unite, you may download the
pro-forma letter from the Unite health sector website that you may
complete, sign and send to your employer, confirming that we are
asking them to take an extra £1.25 per month to cover your
PLI
cover. Click here to download
letter
If this takes a little time, please do not worry as we will
guarantee that your membership of the scheme and your
PLI
cover will be continuous during the changes we are making to the
administration of the PLI.
PLI SUBSCRIPTION PAYMENT BY
CHEQUE
"I am a member of Unite and I would like to have
PLI
cover. I pay my union contributions by cheque,
annually. What do I need to do?
Please contact your local Unite regional
office and ask them to include you in the PLI scheme. Then
please adjust your current payment to include the PLI. Subsequent
payments annually by cheque should include the cost of the
PLI for
a year, added to the usual Unite contribution rate.
" A member has contacted me in regards to the
renewal of her PLI. Her normal contribution method is by
cheque annually. She has asked how she no goes about renewing
her insurance as obviously she does not pay via direct debit or
check-off."
The member should make the local Unite regional office aware
that he/she wishes to renew payment to the PLI scheme and then make
out the cheque or adjust the payment accordingly.
CANCEL SUBSCRIPTION TO UNITE PLI
SCHEME
"I am contacting you to confirm that I wish to
cancel my subscription to the PLI scheme from the
end of this month." "Can you please confirm that you received
my mail asking for this?"
Please contact your local Unite regional
office and inform the membership administrator of this.
You may do this by telephone.
Once you have informed the local office, payments will cease
from the end of the month.
How PLI applies to your
work
"Am I covered for private work?"
Cover will apply when employed in the private sector but will
not apply if the member is self employed – i.e. working for a fee
as opposed to being employed.
GHP -
Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists
GHP
web site states: "Pharmacists who are members of GHP and
carry the additional
Unite PLI will receive
Trade Union support and have cover in place when working for a
pharmacy employer, service company or other Pharmacist who has
PLI
cover whether as a direct employee or a self-employed locum.
This means that self employed pharmacists and others in the
healthcare sector can be covered but only when they are working for
a principal. This is qualified by the words in bold italics
above. "Pharmacists working for themselves or those working
under a contract to supply services are not covered."
See GHP web site for
further information:- www.ghp.org.uk
"Am I covered for my agency
work?"
Some agencies dealing with health professionals are deemed to be
the employer, otherwise the organisation for whom you are working
will be the employer, and therefore the member will be
covered. If there is doubt, the member should check with the
agency whether it is the agency or the health provider who holds
vicarious liability insurance for them.
"Why do I need PLI – I thought that
membership of the union was sufficient
cover?"
PLI should not be confused with other forms of “cover” and
support by the union. These are:-
- Membership of the union entitles
members to advice and support in workplace matters including
grievances, disciplinary procedures and employment tribunals.
- Membership of the union entitles members who are statutorily
registered health professionals to support and advice if
investigated by a regulatory body and also the support of the
union’s lawyers should a case go to a hearing. See Appendix
(D) – arrangements for members.
- PLI is there in case a member should, for example, be sued by a
patient or client for malpractice. See Appendix (E) – full policy.
"I am a pharmacist – would I be
protected in criminal proceedings for
manslaughter?"
See Appendix
(F) – summary of policy for pharmacists.
"If I think I might need to
claim, what do I do?"
At the very first inkling that a claim might arise, inform the
Unite Regional
Officer in the Health Sector of Unite. See Appendix (G) Please bear in mind these
Policy conditions, including the following:-
- “You must take reasonable precautions to prevent any occurrence
or to cease any activity which may give rise to a claim
- You must give the insurer immediate written notice with full
particulars of any occurrence which may give rise to a claim and
every claim, writ, summons etc received will be forwarded to the
insurer immediately (see claims below).
- You must also give immediate written notice to the insurer of
any prosecution, inquest or inquiry in connection with any
occurrence which may give rise to a claim.
- No admission offer promise payment or indemnity will be made or
given by you or the Union without the written consent of the
insurer
- You and the Union must give all such assistance as the insurer
may require”
"How does the union
PLI
policy relate to the NHS Litigation Authority provision and
employers vicarious liability?"
See Appendices:
"I was a hospital
chaplain until a year and a half ago. I now work as a
Psychological Therapist for a PCT and have continued to remain a
member of Unite / CHCC. Can I clarify that I am covered
automatically with Indemnity Insurance for my current work as a
counsellor / psychological therapist through Unite? Does this
extend to my private practice outside the
NHS?"
You are covered by PLI for the work you now do - but only
employed work - not self employed. If you do self-employed
work you must make your own arrangements regarding cover.
"I need cover for my private practice – can
you suggest anyone?"
No - sorry - you need to seek cover elsewhere.
"My PLI is due to expire
soon, and I therefore wish to request details and an application
form for the cover available through the Union at your earliest
convenience. "
I am pleased to advise that the PLI is now available to those
practitioners not historically included. Information may be
found on the health sector section of the Unite web site.
Click here
"I am a clinical
psychologist interested in the new union professional liability
insurance."
It will provide you with professional liability cover for your
employed work. It will cover you everywhere except USA and
Canada. It does not extend to self employed work. It
will cover your employed work as a clinical psychologist. To
join the PLI scheme please contact your local Unite regional
office and ask them to include you in the PLI scheme.
"I am currently
working part-time as a Health Visitor but also work privately as a
Human Givens Therapist and Trainer. I need to know if my
membership of the CPHVA covers me for professional indemnity when
carrying out any private work?"
You are covered for employed work with a private employer, but
not for self-employed work.
"I am a nursery
nurse. Does the
PLI
scheme cover
me? Do I have to pay extra?"
If you are a member of the CPHVA
section of Unite, PLI cover is included in your membership
subscription.
"I have seen a leaflet
regarding Professional Liability Insurance, however this does not
seem to cover you to work outside the NHS. As a practicing
biomedical engineer within the NHS I service and repair medical
equipment on a daily basis and as such from time to time get asked
by doctors and physiotherapists if I can service their private
practice equipment. As I am not insured I have to date
declined their offers but I wondered on reading the information on
the PLI scheme if the union had any contacts or a scheme in place
that would allow me to gain the relevant cover to practice outside
the NHS?"
The Unite scheme covers you for employed work (as opposed to
self employed work). It is dependant upon there being
employers’ vicarious liability insurance in place in the first
instance. So any employed work is covered. But if you
do work for private practice on a fee (self employed) basis rather
than a salary (employed), then you will need to make additional
arrangements.
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