Select country
Menu

Help with your membership application (GPs in England and Wales)

Following the introduction of clinical negligence schemes for general practice in England and Wales, we now offer two types of GP membership:

Professional Protection

which gives you the right to request medicolegal assistance in circumstances not covered by the state scheme eg GMC investigations, criminal matters, coroners’ inquests.
Find out more

Claims Protection

which provides you with the right to request indemnity and defence services in the event of any clinical negligence claims relating to all fee-paying and private work you do outside of an NHS primary medical services contract.

You can get a quote and make an application using the button below.

Get a quote

Membership for newly qualified GPs

With Medical Protection you can save up to 50% on your first year of newly qualified GP (NQGP) membership and up to 30% in your second year of practice. Get the protection your career deserves and the support you need as an NQGP. Find out more

What is Claims Protection?

Claims Protection gives you the right to request indemnity and support if you face a clinical negligence claim arising from work not covered by NHS state indemnity.

While NHS GP work is covered by state schemes, Claims Protection protects you for private practice and any fee-paying work you do in NHS practices. It ensures you have access to expert support, financial protection and legal defence if you need it.

Do I need it?

You don’t need Claims Protection if you only carry out NHS GP work under a standard NHS contract (GMS, PMS or APMS).

You do need it if you undertake private consultations or any work not commissioned under an NHS GP contract.

This includes work in an NHS practice where a fee is charged, for example:

  • Medical reports or certificates – like HGV and insurance documentation
  • Travel vaccinations or private prescriptions
  • Occupational health or medicolegal work

If you are a partner in a practice which provides these services, you also need Claims Protection. This is because a clinical negligence claim could be made against the partnership in relation to fee-paying work your team undertakes.

In general, if you or your practice is paid directly, or the work sits outside your NHS contract, you will need Claims Protection.

If you carry out activities that require protection but generate less than £2,500 for you personally, you don’t pay anything for Claims Protection. You need it to ensure you’re protected, but there’s no cost.

Some work involving NHS patients may still fall outside NHS indemnity depending on how it is commissioned. You can check whether your work is covered by state indemnity through NHS Resolution in England and NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership in Wales.

If you’re unsure, apply this simple rule: if the work is not clearly part of your NHS GP contract, and is not covered by another party – for example, your employer – assume that you need Claims Protection.

 

What affects my price?

The type of work you do – and therefore the level of risk – can affect your subscription.

The more income you generate from work not covered by state indemnity, the higher the typical subscription.

Low risk

Palliative medicine 

Medicolegal work

Occupational medicine

Academic work

Administrative work (non-clinical)

Medical Examiner

Standard risk

Routine private or un-indemnified GP work

Higher risk

Forensic medicine

Prison medical officer

Minor surgery

Cosmetic/aesthetic medicine

Out-of-hours work

Virtual or teleconsulting (for unregistered patients or patients who you do not hold full medical records for)

 

How can I get my exact cost?

Because pricing is tailored to your work, the most accurate way to determine your subscription is to request a quote.

You will be asked to estimate your annual income from work for which indemnity is needed.

If you do not earn any personal income, this is £0.

Otherwise, you should add up the income from any work you undertake which is outside your NHS contract and not indemnified by an employer.

If you are a partner in the practice, you can use your practice accounts to estimate your share of the income the practice receives from fee-paying services each year.

In summary

  • NHS GP work is covered by state indemnity schemes in most cases
  • Private, fee-paying and out-of-scope work needs Claims Protection
  • Your Claims Protection cost is based mainly on income and risk
  • If you earn less than £2,500 from fee-paying work, you can add Claims Protection at no cost

What you will need in order to apply

To complete your application, please allow 20 minutes and have the following to hand:

- Your qualification details
- Your GMC number
- An estimate of your total income from fee-paying and private work 

Please remember you will need to have Professional Protection membership in order to add Claims Protection.

Working in the UK outside of England or Wales

If you work in more than one country e.g England and Scotland please complete and return the application and payment information forms below by email to applications@medicalprotection.org or post to:

Member Services, Medical Protection, Victoria House, 2 Victoria Place, Leeds LS11 5AE. 

 

More information

What you will need to complete your quote:

  • The full address and postcode of the places you practise
  • Your scope of practice
  • Your GMC reference number
  • Your date of primary qualification
  • Your full registration date
  • Your gross revenue from private work, including any fees, salary, benefits, profit, dividends and bonuses (before expenses)
  • Details of previous indemnifiers, gaps in your professional protection, any previous complaints and claim and case history

A full case history, also known as letter of good standing, will be required to support your application if you have held indemnity or insurance with any other providers in the last ten years (periods of state indemnity are not required). Please send us your case history from previous indemnifiers within 42 days of your application being accepted. If we do not receive this within 42 days, or if the information doesn’t match your application form, it could lead to your membership being cancelled.

Referred applications

Sometimes we need to check the information you have provided in your application (for example if you have had a claim in the past). This will mean that, at the end of your online application, you will be told that it has been referred. It can take up to five days for this to be investigated, but your application will still be progressing in the meantime and we will aim to get back to you sooner than that wherever possible.