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Trusted insurance for professionals and businesses.
Policies made for industry, by industry.
Award Winning Insurance
Professional indemnity insurance and business insurance for Australian professional
Working with over 40 associations
Insuring Australians for over 60 years
100% Australian owned
Hear from our customers
Don't take our word for it, hear from some of these people that have experienced our service first-hand.
11/2023
Always helpful and have never had any issues with claims. We have dealt with them for a long time and they understand our business.
01/01/24
As a practitioner and building owner I have used Guild Insurance and have been satisfied with all claims made from lodgement through to completion of remedial work and finalisation of the claim.
19/11/23
Process was simple, smooth and easy! As a new provider, it was so helpful having an experienced person on the other side of the phone, discussing my insurance needs with me.
We provide industry-leading specialist insurance
Our insurance policies are designed to support you. We have a range of covers to comprehensively protect your livelihood and your reputation.
Professional indemnity
Protects you for what you do in your profession.
Business insurance
Protects all aspects of your business – property, people and the interruptions.
Professional indemnity insurance covers you for your civil liability when a claim arises from a breach of your professional duty. For many professional policies at Guild Insurance combine professional indemnity, public liability, and product liability to cover more of your professional duties. Business insurance, on the other hand, is a broader category that encompasses various types of coverage designed to protect businesses from a wide range of risks. This can include property damage, theft, and liability claims from third parties.
For professionals providing advice or services:
- Assess your service risk: Evaluate the potential risks associated with your professional advice or services. Consider the possibility and implications of your advice or actions leading to a client's physical, psychological, or financial detriment. Reflect on the likelihood and consequences of a situation where an error or omission on your part could lead to legal action.
- Understand legal requirements: Familiarise yourself with the legal and regulatory landscape relevant to your profession. Is holding professional indemnity insurance a legal requirement or an industry standard in your field?
For certain contract positions and many allied health professionals regulated under Ahpra require professional indemnity and/or public liability insurance. - Consider your financial exposure: If faced with a legal claim, could you afford the legal defence and potential damages out of pocket?
For business owners protecting their operations:
- Identify your business assets: Determine which physical assets are crucial to your business operations, such as property, equipment, and inventory. Consider the consequences if these assets were damaged, stolen or lost.
- Evaluate liability risks: How likely is it that someone could be injured or their property damaged because of your business activities? This includes both public liability and product liability.
- Consider business interruptions: Think about the resilience of your business in the face of unforeseen events that might force temporary closure. How would such interruptions impact your financial stability?
If you are unsure of the cover you require, please contact us on 1800 810 213 to speak to an insurance specialist.
We can also cover your
Home & contents
Workers compensation
Pet insurance
Why choose Guild Insurance?
Specialist policies for your Profession
Tailored insurance solutions for diverse professions
Claims made easy
Streamlined claim processes for quick resolution
Expert legal advice with Meridian Lawyers
Professional legal support from trusted Meridian Lawyers
Our policies are made for your industry, endorsed by industry pros and updated regularly.
See how we can help you in your industry.
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Learn how to avoid claims at RiskHQ
Notifying Guild Insurance of a claim – a speech pathologist’s requirements
Imagine if…
You receive an angry email from the parent of one of your clients stating they aren’t happy that you declined to provide therapy to their child and they’re considering making a complaint alleging discrimination. You know you weren’t the most suitably qualified speech pathologist to provide therapy to that child and did the right thing in referring to someone else. Therefore, you immediately reply to the parent informing them of your version of events. Some time after this you hear from the parent again claiming they have now lodged their discrimination complaint.
Guild Insurance’s Liabilities policies state that as soon you, as the policy holder, experience a claim made against you or an incident which could give rise to a claim, you are required to notify Guild. However, Guild is aware that some clinicians respond to complaints on their own without first notifying Guild. This can have a number of consequences for these clinicians as they’re not receiving the support or guidance their insurance policy may entitle them to. It can also mean the policy holder is not adhering to the conditions of the insurance policy.
Possible scenarios
The following scenarios are some examples of when you should notify Guild Insurance:
- If a private health insurer, or other funding provider such as Medicare, has requested access to your clinical records as evidence of billing practices.
- If a client has complained directly to you or your practice with a formal demand for compensation or suggested they’ll make a notification to a regulatory body.
- If a solicitor or law firm representing a client has requested access to your clinical records or notified you of a complaint.
- Any other circumstance where you have an uneasy feeling about an incident or situation; when in doubt, notify!
When to notify Guild
Clinicians are sometimes unsure whether a matter is serious enough to warrant notifying their insurance company. There are some occasions where notifying an insurance company is a must, such as when there is a request for client records from a solicitor or funding provider or when there is an allegation of the client suffering harm following therapy. However, when a client complains directly to you, this is when you need to use your judgement. If the client has simply informed you that they didn’t respond as hoped to therapy provided previously yet doesn’t seem annoyed or demanding, then this may be a matter which can be sorted by you alone. Yet if you’re in doubt or concerned about the complaint or allegation from the client or their family, then you should notify Guild.
Will my premium go up if I notify Guild of a matter?
Guild’s premium pricing is influenced by a number of factors. Notifying Guild of an incident is unlikely to be the cause of a premium increase the following year. However, as detailed below, not notifying Guild may lead to further stress and complications. Therefore, the cost of the premium should not be a factor in deciding whether or not to notify Guild.
Consequences of not notifying Guild
Facing an allegation or investigation of any sort can be an extremely stressful situation for a clinician. When a clinician handles a matter themselves without the support of Guild, that stress is compounded as the clinician will be dealing with a process they’re unfamiliar with.
Guild has seen many cases where a clinician’s own response has either not provided the required information, or a response has been written in a way which is likely to inflame or escalate the situation. This usually leads to further investigations being conducted and Guild being notified after the investigation has begun, inhibiting Guild’s support and influence.
When a clinician doesn’t notify Guild as soon as is reasonably possible of a claim made against them, they may be considered to not be complying with the conditions of the insurance policy. This can lead to cover under the policy being cancelled or the claim not being paid.
It’s also important to understand that a clinician may leave themselves with out of pocket expenses by not notifying Guild at the beginning. This may occur if they engage their own legal counsel not approved by Guild and at a rate Guild believes to be exorbitant or if they have offered to settle a matter without Guild’s consent.
The staff at Guild Insurance have a great deal of experience and expertise in managing allegations and investigations and are well aware of what is required when responding to them. For this reason, it’s of benefit to everyone involved to notify Guild immediately and be sure the necessary support is provided and process is followed from the start.
How to contact Guild Insurance
To notify Guild of an incident, and therefore make a claim against your insurance policy, either call Guild on 1800 810 213 or go to guildinsurance.com.au/claims.
Notifying Guild of a claim - Speech Pathology
- Speech Pathologists
- Business
- Professional
FAQs
The law governs that any professional exercise the required skill to an appropriate level expected by that profession. A professional may be liable for financial loss, injury or damage arising from an act, error or omission of fault if the professional has not acted to the required level of skill deemed in that profession. Failure through this may result in the claimant (person who suffered the loss) be awarded for that loss, damage or injury.
Many professions require you to hold a professional indemnity insurance policy by law, such as Ahpra registered professions, but can be for other industries such as financial institutions also. Please check with your registration body or associations of your profession to know if it is required by law to have professional indemnity insurance. It is often also required by companies who take on contract workers that are not governed under the companies own insurance policy. It is acceptable for a company to ask you as the professional contractor to provide evidence of cover for professional indemnity before starting the contract period.
As stated above professional indemnity insurance covers you for breaches in relation to your professional duty. Liability insurance covers you for activity that results in personal injury or property damage as a result of your business activities that do not relate to your specific profession. An example may be someone who trips and is injured from spilled water within your office may be covered under liability, because it is your duty of care as business person to provide a safe environment. Whereas a person who suffers a loss or injury because of your professional treatment in relation to your job has caused it would usually be consider as an indemnity breach.
Generally business insurance is to cover the physical assets of your business for material damage loss and options for theft cover. It can also include cover for financial loss due to business interruption. Usually basic insurance does not cover breach of duty or flood cover, but if you speak to an insurance specialist it can often be added to your policy for a nominal fee.
Depending on the policy you are taking out, covers will often vary. At Guild insurance we specialise in making a policy to suit your business so that you are not over paying for covers you wouldn't normally need. The best thing to do is call 1800 810 213 to speak to an insurance specialist, they can find out what activities and structure your business is in to then provide you with adequate cover for you.
A certificate of currency (or COC for short) is a written document that confirms that your insurance policy is current and valid at a specific date and time. At Guild we provide easy access to your COC at any time within a few clicks of our online portal PolicyHub. If you are a new customer we can provide you with one post purchase.
Meridian Lawyers services available to you
The Meridian team provide tailored legal services to Guild Insurance customers.
They're experts in advising and assisting Guild's insured customers with their corporate and commercial, employment, dispute resolution and property needs.
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