BFRPs' guide to insurance

Introduction

These guidelines are for the use of practitioners registered with the Dr Edward Bach Centre and relate to their work with the system of 38 flower remedies discovered by Dr Edward Bach. References to BFRPs (Bach Foundation Registered Practitioners) include BFRAPs (Bach Foundation Registered Animal Practitioners) unless otherwise indicated.

What types of insurance are there?

There are different types of insurance available, and the exact cover offered by different companies will vary, so you always need to check exactly what is included. However, the following broad classes of insurance are among the most useful to BFRPs and level 3 students:

  • Professional indemnity. This typically covers for mistakes you make when working as a professional practitioner. This kind of insurance should cover you if you give somebody bad advice and as a result they suffer harm.
  • Public liability. This generally covers injury or losses that clients might suffer during a visit to your premises. This could range from a client tripping on your stairs on the way out, all the way to injuries suffered as a direct results of a physical treatment - for example, if you offered massage therapy and a client claimed to be hurt by this, then this insurance could apply.
  • Product liability. This usually covers any products that you sell to clients, so could include sales of remedies and/or treatment bottles. (If you sell unopened stock remedies they would normally be covered by the maker's product liability insurance.)
  • Libel and slander. This could apply if for example you discussed a client's case with another practitioner or published details of it, and the client felt that what you had said was derogatory and decided to take legal action.
  • Professional liability. This is a more comprehensive cover that may include all of the above - although policies in some countries may routinely exclude things like product liability.

Is insurance necessary?

BFRPs sometimes think that professional indemnity insurance isn't necessary because the remedies are very safe. It's true that no legal claim relating to treatment with Bach remedies has ever come to court. That doesn't, however, mean that this will never happen. The remedies are preserved in alcohol, and they are usually given by mouth. There is always potential for a problem if a client is allergic to alcohol or doesn't attend to basic hygiene. You might also be accused of giving bad advice or inappropriate treatment if, for example, an apparently minor problem turns out to be more serious. You can and should make clear the limits of your role as a BFRP, but clients sometimes misremember what they were told.

Some BFRPs - especially in the USA, arguably the most litigious country in the world - feel that having insurance makes them a target for people looking to make money through the courts. On the other hand, some professional activities absolutely require insurance. If you want to join a national register of therapists, for example, you may find your application turned down if you do not have adequate insurance cover. The same can happen if you want to work out of a clinic or health centre. BFRPs who want to work with animals may have trouble obtaining referral from vets. The vast majority of BFRPs are keen to be insured.

The Bach Centre does not insist that all BFRPs have comprehensive, or indeed, any insurance. Ours is an international register of self-help practitioners and teachers. Some BFRPs work in circumstances where insurance is simply not available, or is prohibitively expensive. We are aware too that many BFRPs offer help for nothing and in informal contexts. We feel it would be unreasonable to insist that people in those situations have the same cover as a professional therapist in a country where insurance is cheap and easy to get.

However, in keeping with the ethos of the remedies as a self-help system, we make it clear in the Bach Foundation Code of Practice that BFRPs are wholly responsible for their decisions, acts and omissions in this and other areas of their work (clause 8.1). BFRPs are bound to obey the law in the country, state etc. where they work, and are responsible for obtaining 'appropriate' insurance (8.3). If local law requires you have insurance to practice, you must not practice without it. Where there is no legal requirement you may if you want decide that an appropriate level of cover is not to have any, but that decision is your responsibility. You should be aware of the implications should a claim ever be brought against you.

We do believe that for their own protection BFRPs should try to obtain public liability insurance as an absolute minimum.

Where can I get insurance?

The Bach Centre has tried several times to create group insurance schemes especially for BFRPs. These attempts have been unsuccessful. BFRPs in countries like the UK are often already insured through other schemes. In other countries where many BFRPs are not insured there are often problems finding any insurer willing to underwrite this activity. While enough practitioners around the world might be interested to start a scheme, we haven't been able to find any company willing to take on risks spread across many countries.

Because there is no group scheme you will have to approach insurance companies individually to ask a) if they insure Bach practitioners and b) how much the cover you want will cost. If you are already insured for another therapy you may find the cheapest way to get cover for BFRP work is to add it to the existing policy. Normally this can be done fairly easily for a small extra premium. Sometimes clinics, health centres, animal shelters etc. have insurance that covers work done by staff or volunteers, so that is something to ask about if you plan to work in a facility run by somebody else.

BFRPs have recommended the following companies to us:

UK and Ireland

  • DSC-Strand Ltd, Swithins, Lodge Farm, Tilford Road, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8HU, telephone 01252 735806, web www.dsc-strand.co.uk
  • H & L Balen & Co., 33 Graham Road, Malvern, Worcestershire WR14 2HU, telephone 01684 893006
  • Holistic Services Insurance, web www.holisticinsurance.co.uk
  • Sheppard's (formerly Ecology Insurance Brokers), telephone 01689 885822
  • Smithson Mason Group, SMG House, 31 Clarendon Road, Leeds LS2 9PA, telephone 0113 294 4000, fax 0113 294 4100
  • Towergate Professional Risks, telephone 0113 383 3137, web www.towergateprofessionalrisks.co.uk
  • Westminster Indemnity have a special deal for BFRPs, and insure student practitioners for a reduced premium. You can order the cover online.

USA

  • Public liability coverage is available from the Hands-On Trade Association. Apply under the 'Bodywork' category and don't select a subcategory.

You could also contact your local Bach Foundation Registrar or education co-ordinator who might be able to suggest other companies and opportunities where you live. If you find a good insurance company not on our list - particularly in one of the many countries where nobody has yet been recommended to us - please tell Stefan and he will be able to add the details here.

What can I do to protect myself if I can't get insurance?

In general, you are usually less at risk if you reduce the amount of 'therapist'-style intervention you make, and instead stress your education role and the responsibility and self-determination of the client. There are several ways you might do this. One is to ask clients to sign a liability waiver at the start of the first consultation. This might include a statement by the client accepting full responsibility for selecting and taking the remedies, and formally releasing the BFRP from responsibility in respect of any claims, charges, losses, liabilities etc. that might arise. Whether or not you introduce a waiver, you could make it clear in your advertising and presentation that Dr Bach's is a self-help system and that your role is to teach how it works. Talk about the consultation as a one-on-one seminar rather than a treatment session.

Sometimes there is a particular problem over making up treatment bottles for clients. In the USA, for example, insurance companies who say they cover BFRPs sometimes exclude remixed substances (i.e. treatment bottles) and substances taken by mouth (remedy drops) from cover. You might decide to charge for consultations only, and either leave clients to supply and mix the remedies themselves or, if you do have treatment bottles available, simply give clients permission to make a mix from your stock bottles free of charge if they want to. This should mean you will be less likely to be considered as a 'manufacturer', as might happen if you sell treatment bottles you have mixed yourself. When it comes to refill bottles you could charge a small fee for confirming the selection, and again, leave clients to mix remedies themselves for free and on their own responsibility. This approach is entirely in keeping with the Bach tradition of self help, and fits easily with our belief that BFRPs should be teachers more than therapists. Indeed, some BFRPs like to work like this even when they have full insurance cover, simply because it is a good way of working.

Of course, even if you leave the whole process of selecting, mixing and taking remedies to the client, you would still be advised to consider public liability insurance wherever you have members of the public visiting your premises.

Another way of protecting yourself is to set up a company instead of working as an individual practitioner. In the UK you could form a limited company; in the US a limited liability company; in most other countries there is a legal equivalent. The actual rules on setting up and running such companies vary from country to country and from state to state, but in general a limited company will put a limit to the amount you can lose through your business activities. Seek local legal advice if this route interests you.

Disclaimer

The information here is provided in good faith but does not constitute legal advice or opinion. No responsibility will be taken by the Bach Centre or any of its agents or officers for any act or omission carried out by anybody who follows these guidelines. In line with clauses 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3 of the Bach Foundation Code of Practice BFRPs are responsible for their own actions at all times.