Professional Indemnity Insurance Help Centre
Get answers to the most frequently asked questions about Doctor Shield
Browse the categories below to find your answers. If you don’t find what you are looking for, use the contact form to connect with our friendly consultants
General
What makes Doctor Shield’s solution different?
- It is the World’s First complete online platform to purchase Medical Indemnity Insurance
- We partner with Chubb, the World’s Largest publicly traded Property & Casualty Insurance company.
- Claims are fast and easy as Chubb has local capacity to pay claims and is located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
- Clients can appoint their own Lawyer of choice with medico legal experience subject to the approval of our insurer.
What is the limit for Locum practice ?
What is covered in DoctorShield’s Professional Indemnity Insurance?
- Covers for claims arising from a Medical Negligence Incident by the insured in the provision of professional healthcare services
- Cover for legal representation costs incurred directly in connection with formal inquiries into the conduct of professional healthcare services
- Vicarious liability for doctors and doctors working as locum
- Good Samaritan Acts
- Covers for claims for unintentional defamation by the insured in the provision of professional healthcare services
- Covers for unintentional infringement of any intellectual property
- Loss of documents
- Unlimited run-off coverage
- Advancement of defence costs and legal representation expenses
- Unlimited retroactive date
- Covers Aggravated Damages
- Public relations cost
- Auto reinstatement
- Full support for mediation
- Expert Doctors and Medico Legal Lawyers consultation
- Coverage for Notices of Contribution and Indemnity (NCI).
- Defence Costs (Limit in addition) Extension
Which category should General Practitioners practising Aesthetics select?
They should select: General Practitioners with Aesthetics exposure . This category would cover “Non-invasive elective topical enhancement of patient’s external appearance, including injections” or minor procedures which include the following:
- Derma Rolling/ Skin Needling.
- Injectables – Botulinum Toxin Type A (Botox, Dysport) and non-permanent dermal fillers.
- Intense Pulsed Light (IPL).
- Laser therapy (excluding laser resurfacing).
- Microdermabrasion.
- Peels – fruit acid facial peels and superficial depth chemical peels.
What is the classification of a government university lecturer practicing at government hospitals?
Are Doctor shield premiums tax exempted?
What are territorial limits?
- This means you are covered worldwide except for USA/CANADA.
- However, the legal cases must be heard in Malaysian courts only.
Who is the best to advise on the doctor’s classification?
Is there any difference between The Doctor Shield and other schemes?
Nevertheless, we will be able to highlight our benefits that are unique in the market. It may also help you understand why many have signed up with us.
- The Doctor Shield has made it possible for doctors to customize the coverage they want and purchase it within 10 minutes, that includes receiving your insurance policy. https://quote.thedoctorshield.com/
- The policy is underwritten by Chubb who are the World’s Largest publicly traded Property & Casualty Insurer. And they have local capacity within Malaysia to pay claims unlike many of the competitors who may have reinsured the risk to an overseas reinsurer. This may affect significant sized claims as it goes through two layers of loss investigation and approval.
- You can renew policies within 2 minutes via our online platform. You will receive reminders to renew periodically 6 months prior to your policy expiry
- The Doctor Shield encourages alternative dispute resolution methods especially mediation. We fully support quicker dispute resolution.
- We offer unlimited retroactive date. Which means that you are covered against any unknown claims arising from day one of your career.
- If you are a clinic owner, you can easily add clinic indemnity to your individual professional indemnity insurance within minutes via our online platform. https://quote.thedoctorshield.com/
- We offer unlimited run off coverage for you to be covered during your retirement years. This coverage is free of charge as long as you have been insured with us for a minimum of 5 consecutive years. In the event that you are planning for retirement less than 5 years, you may inform us and purchase the run off coverage with an additional premium.
- Regulator’s inquiries are covered within the policies.
- We do not pride ourselves to be the cheapest, but we are certainly the most competitive in most classifications.
- We do have our panel of expert medico legal lawyers ready to be engaged. Nevertheless, we also allow lawyers of your choice to represent you as long as they have medico legal experience subject to the Insurer’s approval.
- Simplified process with ever ready service consultants who can be contacted via our website or WhatsApp. Our main objective of building an online platform is to help clients make an informed decision without any misrepresentation. We have made the coverage comprehensive so as to minimise caveats and ambiguity. Nevertheless, our service consultants are always available to assist with clarifications over the phone or on whatsapp.
What are the differences between the various classifications of Cosmetic and Aesthetic specialization?
“Non-invasive elective topical enhancement of patient’s external appearance, including injections” or minor procedures which include the following:
- Derma Rolling/ Skin Needling.
- Injectables – botulinum toxin Type A (botox, dysport) and non-permanent dermal fillers.
- Intense Pulsed Light (IPL).
- Laser therapy (excluding laser resurfacing).
- Microdermabrasion.
- Peels – fruit acid facial peels and superficial depth chemical peels.
Cosmetic and Aesthetic Medium Risk
Invasive procedures of items above
Cosmetic and Aesthetic High risk
- Cosmetic and Aesthetic Surgery: Elective Alteration of Patient’s External Appearance
- Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Is your company a Singapore based company?
JA Assure Group has Insurance Intermediary licenses and operates offices in Singapore, Labuan and Hong Kong.
Since Doctor Shield is new to medical indemnity, how experienced are your lawyers in dealing with medico legal suits?
- Doctor Shield – New Technology Platform. New Online submission and policy issuance
- JA Assure, has been in the insurance industry for the last 20 years
- Chubb is the World’s Largest publicly traded Property & Casualty Insurance company.
- Almost all reputable expert medico legal lawyers in the country are part of our panel.
- Nevertheless, we are also able to accept lawyers of your choice to represent you, as long as they have experience in the medico-legal field, subject to the approval of the insurer.
If I buy Medical Indemnity Insurance now, and might change the work practice few months later, would there be any charge?
If I need to leave Malaysia early or stop my practice before December, would there be refund for the balance months?
What is the criteria for specialists?
Is the policy under Takaful Insurance or Conventional?
Our policy is underwritten by Chubb and is under Conventional.
What is loss mitigation?
Which is bigger if I may ask? MPS or Doctor Shield?
Nevertheless, we will be able to highlight our benefits that are unique in the market. It may also help you understand why many have signed up with us.
- The DoctorShield has made it possible for doctors to customize the coverage they want and purchase it within 10 minutes, that includes receiving your insurance policy. https://quote.thedoctorshield.com
- The policy is underwritten by Chubb who are the World’s Largest publicly traded Property & Casualty Insurer. And they have local capacity within Malaysia to pay claims unlike many of the competitors who may have reinsured the risk to an overseas reinsurer. This may affect significant sized claims as it goes through two layers of loss investigation and approval.
- You can renew policies within 2 minutes via our online platform. You will receive reminders to renew periodically 6 months prior to your policy expiry
- The DoctorShield encourages alternative dispute resolution methods especially mediation. We fully support quicker dispute resolution.
- We offer unlimited retroactive date. Which means that you are covered against any unknown claims arising from day one of your career.
- If you are a clinic owner, you can easily add clinic indemnity to your individual professional indemnity insurance within minutes via our online platform. https://quote.thedoctorshield.com
- We offer unlimited run off coverage for you to be covered during your retirement years. This coverage is free of charge as long as you have been insured with us for a minimum of 5 consecutive years. In the event that you are planning for retirement less than 5 years, you may inform us and purchase the run off coverage with an additional premium.
- Regulator’s inquiries are covered within the policies.
- We do not pride ourselves to be the cheapest, but we are certainly the most competitive in most classifications.
- We do have our panel of expert medico legal lawyers ready to be engaged. Nevertheless, we also allow lawyers of your choice to represent you as long as they have medico legal experience subject to the Insurer’s approval.
- Simplified process with ever ready service consultants who can be contacted via our website or WhatsApp. Our main objective of building an online platform is to help clients make an informed decision without any misrepresentation. We have made the coverage comprehensive so as to minimise caveats and ambiguity. Nevertheless, our service consultants are always available to assist with clarifications over the phone or on WhatsApp.
As a government specialist working locum, how do I proceed to insure?
As a government medical officer, how do I proceed to insure?
Do you have policy that works by per day working basis?
What does Extended Notification Period mean?
I still don't understand what does the clinic indemnity cover, is it compulsory?
The policy yearly premium increases every year and by how much?
Since we take the sustainability of our premiums seriously, we have structured a price mechanism to absorb lesser of high risks specialists compared to lower risks categories. This balanced portfolio helps us reduce our potential claims exposure and thus helps in keeping premiums sustained longer than others. In other words, unlike our competitors, we accept only limited number of high risks specialists.
Is Doctor Shield a claims-made or occurrence based policy?
Difference between occurrence-based and claims-made policies?
Doctor Shield offers Claims-made basis- A policy providing coverage that is triggered when a claim is made against the insured during the policy period, regardless of when the wrongful/ negligent act occurred that gave rise to claim.
Although the policy is claims-made basis, we offer unlimited retroactive date. In other words, as long as you are holding on to our policy, we cover you for all the unknown matters arising from the date you started practicing.
We also offer unlimited run off which means you are covered for life even after you cease your operations or after your retirement.
In today’s market, most insurers and clients have moved to providing Claims-made basis as its more cost effective and sustainable.
What are the available grouping of Dental Specialties?
If I have purchased the policy, but not renewed my APC, will it cover me?
Does Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) recognise DoctorShield?
What are the unique benefit in DoctorShield's Professional Indemnity Insurance?
- Unlimited retroactive date
- Unlimited run-off coverage
- Complimentary aggravated extension
- Complimentary auto reinstatement
- Complimentary loss mitigation extension
- Choose your own lawyer
- Coverage for notices of contribution and indemnity (NCI)
- Defence costs (limit in addition)extension
- Complimentary sole trader extension
- Complimentary personal accident cover
- Comprehensive and customizable clinic property insurance
Where can I get further information?
Can I cancel my policy?
Premiums
Are premiums monthly or yearly?
How do I pay the premium?
Where do I get promo codes? And what does Promo codes offer us?
Are there additional premiums to be paid if there are double claims in the same year?
Is there a difference in premiums for government doctors with different classification?
Does the policy yearly premium increase every year and by how much?
Is there admin charge for withdrawal before inception Or during the insured period?
For any cancellation of insurance policies that may occur, JA Assure Sdn. Bhd. retains the right to impose administrative charges amounting up to 10% of the premium collected. Following the receipt of a cancellation request, the company will refund the remaining amount to your bank account on. However, once the policy is incepted, the refund of unused premiums (if any) is subject to the approval of the insurer.
How does claims affect the premium the following year?
What happen if I exceed the limit?
Coverage
What is Run Off Cover? What if I am planning to retire from practicing next year ?
What's the minimum limit of liability for Annual Practising Certificate eligibility?
We are from a Healthcare company and would like to purchase 1-day insurance for our Doctor from Overseas. Do you have this type of insurance?
Since the doctor is from overseas, it’s important that he checks if he is eligible to practice in Malaysia.
The Insurance will only cover healthcare professionals who are licensed to practice.
Does Doctor Shield provide retroactive coverage? If yes, how long is it for?
Everything seems to be related to the Schedule. Can I get a copy of this Schedule please?
What is the minimum and maximum duration of the policy?
- The minimum duration is 6 months and the maximum period for the policy is 18 months.
- The policy will always end on 31st December. Policies effected in the first half of the year (1st Jan to 30th June) will provide coverage till the end of that year only.
- Policies effected on or after 1st July will provide coverage till the end of the following year, ending on 31st December of the following year (maximum coverage for 18 months).
Do you provide coverage for hospitals other than principal place of practice that are not mentioned in the Annual Practicing Certificate?
Do you offer Clinic Indemnity?
If you are planning to insure just your medical establishment without insuring your individual medical indemnity with doctor shield, you may approach our service consultants for manual submission and processing of your policy.
If I get a government Doctor with locum policy for now, later can I still upgrade to fully private practice? Or if I get a coverage of RM1 million, can I upgrade to a higher coverage later?
Will the client be compensated if the doctor loses their job due to a claim?
Is there any guideline on how much coverage a client should get?
If the Doctor has 2 or 3 years before retirement, do we offer run-off coverage?
Does DoctorShield cover for regulators inquiries caused by disciplinary act?
Do we get covered for appeal cases?
Can coverage be bought for half year coverage?
Does the policy cover loss of records and leak of documents?
Does the policy cover public relations and counselling cost?
For locum cover, is there a restriction on number of days or hours?
The policy states that it also covers personal accident. How do I nominate a name in case of accidental death?
If I choose neurosurgery, does it include spine surgery as well?
A client stays insured with us from 2020 to 2026 and then retires. She informs us about her retirement and gets our approval on unlimited run off coverage. In year 2028, she receives notice of claim for an incident that she operated on in year 2015.
- Will we continue to provide coverage for a doctor after retirement?
- What is the sum assured?
- If the doctor was not covered by any policy in 2015, what would happen?
- Does the unlimited retroactive date apply when someone is on run-off coverage with us?
Answer: Yes, coverage will still be provided.
Answer: The sum assured will be determined based on the insured’s most recent policy before entering retirement.
Answer: The doctor would still be covered since our retroactive date has no limit.
Answer: Yes, the unlimited retroactive date applies during run-off coverage with us.
Does the personal accident coverage apply during the run off coverage period?
What are aggravated damages cover?
Aggravated damages are the special and highly exceptional damages awarded on a defendant by a court, when his/her conduct amounts to tortious conduct subjecting the plaintiff to emotional and malicious circumstances.
If a locum doctor commits negligence, will the clinic owner(doctor) be sued?
The clinic owner’s vicarious liability will cover for the locum doctor. In addition, the locum doctor can be sued along with the clinic owner.
I am a practicing doctor in Malaysia and would like to know whether your company covers telemedicine. It does not state so in the policy wordings.
Yes, it is covered. The policy does not exclude telemedicine. We don’t restrict the medium thru which the doctor provides consultation. Government laws and regulations are still applicable
For tele medicine coverage, will it cover cross country telemedicine consultation?
Yes, it’s covered subject to the territorial limits worldwide except USA / CANADA and subject to the national laws on tele consultation. In the event of a claim, the case has to be heard in courts of Malaysia only.
Does the General Practitioner policy cover for antenatal follow ups?
Antenatal follow ups by GP is allowed for up to 24 weeks. Beyond 24 weeks, it must be done by GP with obstetrics. Additionally, GP with obstetrics can only care and manage. Deliveries & surgeries must be done by specialists only.
What if sole proprietor clinic gets sued?
Are High Risk Surgeries covered under locum exposure?
What Limits of Liability Are Available under this policy?
For Occupational Therapist, which classification do I need to choose?
May I know what is covered for clinic insurance policy?
Is retroactive date applicable while someone is on run-off coverage with us?
Can we buy a higher coverage on the last year before retiring so that we can have higher coverage run off during retirement?
In case of locum coverage, does the place of practice matter?
I am a general ophthalmologist and do cataracts, glaucoma and eyelid surgeries etc but no laser refractive surgery. Which category would I be in? Ophthalmic surgery category or ophthalmology with no laser refractive surgery - except cataracts? I don't do any high risks like laser refractive surgery and oculoplastic procedures.
If there are 2 claims in the same year, within limit, is it that covered?
Does the percentage of specialty job scope determine the coverage an insured receives?
Will my policy lapsed if my claim reaches the limit of indemnity ?
Does DoctorShield include Public Liability cover?
Policy
Do you issue a policy that ends before 31st December?
Why is DoctorShield’s maximum limit capped at RM 10,000,000?
- DoctorShield currently caps the maximum policy at RM10m as the maximum record claims payout is RM7m to date.
- DoctorShield policy comes with FREE auto reinstatement coverage. That will automatically replenish your limits to another RM10m in the event that the first RM10m is exhausted. Auto Reinstated coverage cannot be utilised for the existing claim
Is there a charge for withdrawal before inception Or during insure period?
May I know what is covered for clinic insurance policy?
In the event of a legal suit, the clinic is treated as separate legal identity and therefore needs to have its own Medical Malpractice Insurance. This is an addition to the doctor’s Medical Malpractice Insurance.
The clinic insurance has all the same benefits as the doctor to cover legal expenses and to respond to claims.
Do you have a policy that works by ‘per day working’ basis? As I've retired but occasionally work a couple of days to see a few patients. Buying full time coverage is too expensive for just few days of work.
Do you have a simplified insurance document for APC submission?
How to view your policy before confirmation?
Why do I need to specify the percentage breakdown of my classification?
If I am a O&G Specialist in Government Hospital and I am doing locum as a GP Obstetric, can I buy indemnity for GP with obstetrician practice as I don't do the delivery or Caesarean section as a locum?
Why is the legal costs included in the limit of liability for Doctor Shield whereas other insurers may keep it separate.
Is aggravated damages covered by Doctor Shield? Why is it not stated in the policy document?
How do I specify the percentage breakdown of my classification? Will it affect the sum assured?
If the owner of the clinic is a General Practitioner (GP) and there is another full time doctor who is a specialist, to whose classification should the clinic indemnity be added on?
In the event, the higher risk specialist is no longer with the clinic, the owner may want to find a suitable replacement.
Can I add auto reinstatement to my existing policy after purchase?
a. Buy a new policy with auto reinstatement increasing your overall coverage with 2 policies or
b. Buy a new policy with auto reinstatement & cancel the previous policy. Take note that there would be a 10% cancellation fee imposed.
Renewals
Do I have to renew the policy before 31st December?
To get an Annual Practicing Certificate you must renew your policy and submit the details of the policy to the regulator.
When should I start policy renewal Process ?
What is the process for renewal?
Claims
What is Doctor Shield's claims philosophy?
- Medical Malpractice is likely to cause pain and loss to patients that cannot always be exacted with financial compensation. At the same time, it is our belief that no doctor would have intentionally caused pain to any of his/her patients.
- During the litigation process, the general conception could be one party being favoured over the other. This is why we strongly recommend professional mediation as the first course of action so as to achieve a suitable outcome that is positive for all parties. We are confident that we have well-qualified and experienced panel of medicolegal/dentolegal lawyers who can achieve successful outcomes through mediation and also protect our clients’ interests should litigation be necessary.
What is your claims approach?
- We recommend that you allow us to choose the expert lawyer to represent your interests through the claims process. We have confidence in our panel of handpicked lawyers to help you through a successful meditation process and arrive at a positive outcome.
- The objective is to help clients and their respective patients to move on with their lives without having to go through any more pain than necessary. In order to achieve effective dispute resolution, professional mediation is the best course of action and we fully support this effort.
- However, if mediation is unsuccessful, our panel of expert lawyers will be able to move the case into litigation confidently.
How to file a Claim or notify of a claim?
- Timely claims reporting is a requirement of the insurer. In a bid to reduce any time lapse between claims notification and lawyer engagement, we have created an online link for you to submit the details so that the insurers and the lawyers get real time updates.
- Once the online form is submitted, our team will be notified and we will immediately activate one of our trusted lawyers to contact you and provide you with the appropriate advice on the next course of action.
- As we have access to a wide range of medico-legal expert lawyers across the country on our panel, our preference is to activate the nearest to you. However, if you have a preferred lawyer, we can arrange for a quick approval with the insurer if he/she is not already on our panel.
https://thedoctorshield.ja.deals/claims/
If there is a claim due to a research product, who will cover the loss?
What happens if a claim is more than the limit of liability chosen on the policy?
Once the claims limit is reached, the policy is automatically replenished due to the auto reinstatement feature of our Doctorshield policy. However, the coverage reinstated automatically cannot be applied to existing claims and can only be utilized for subsequent claims. Therefore, it’s crucial to select suitable coverage aligned with your specialization and limit, keeping in mind the current trends.
What situations require us to immediately notify the insurer?
-
As an insured professional, it is your obligation to notify the insurance provider immediately under any of these situations:
- Claim made against you
- Any and all circumstances that may lead to a possible claim being made against you
- Any and all medical incidents that could potentially lead to a claim
- Any inquiries that imply a claim is being considered against you
Can we consult medical experts upfront in the event of a claim?
Is out of court settlement covered by your policy?
Will any fines or penalties imposed by MMC be covered by Doctor Shield?
Who are your panel lawyers?
What is the meaning of Excess?
If my liability limit is 1 million and there are three claims in a year, can all of them be claimed?
If the case is brought up to court in Brunei, will DoctorShield cover legal fees & subsequent claims?
How do I submit a claim?
Dentist
Do government dentist have to bare the lawyers fees?
Government Dentist being sued - do the government claim back from the dentist after the sue is done?
Evidence for government dentist doing locum require Indemnity insurance?
CALL OR CHAT WITH US FOR MORE ASSISTANCE
Our friendly professionals are ready to assist you with all your questions about our Malaysian doctor’s indemnity insurance coverage options.
Looking for some help?
Need help in picking the right medical professional indemnity insurance, with the right covers? Ask for a call back. Our customer service managers are waiting to support you.