FAQs...

How do I make a claim?
To make a claim, you must first request a Claim Form from our Member Services Department by calling +44 (0) 20 7400 5710 or by emailing memberservices@dentistsprovident.co.uk. Alternatively, login to the Members' area of our website and request a Claim Form by email or post, or download it to your computer. Complete the Claim Form and return it to us as soon as possible, making sure you enclose the Confidential Medical Certificate (or a Med 3 Certificate) completed and signed by a doctor, with the dates of absence identical on both. We don’t accept self-certificated claims or medical certificates completed by a member of your immediate family.

We’ll need evidence that you were or still are under the care of a doctor and that you suffered or are still suffering a loss of income as a result of your incapacity. For most short-term claims, the Claim Form and Medical Certificate will be enough evidence and you’ll receive your benefit payment within the next few days.

In some cases, however, we’ll need additional medical or financial information, so your claim may take a little longer to process. However, we’ll always keep you informed of progress.

Please refer to our Guide to Claims for further details.

Will you pay benefits for part of a day?
No, we’ll only pay for a complete day of incapacity. 

What happens in the event of an accident abroad?
If you suffer an illness or injury abroad, you can only claim benefit payments from the day you return to the UK (or the Republic of Ireland), provided you’re still incapacitated. 

How long will my benefits be paid if I can't work?
We’ll pay you until the earliest of the following:
• You’re no longer incapacitated;
• You’re no longer suffering a loss of earnings;
• You reach the retirement age defined in your Schedule of Benefits;
• You die.

Who can become a member of Dentists’ Provident?
All dentists working in the UK, Ireland, Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, aged between 18 and 50, can apply to become a member of Dentists’ Provident.

What’s income protection insurance?
Also known as Permanent Health Insurance (PHI), income protection insurance provides you with a proportion of your income, currently free of income tax, if you can’t work because of an illness or injury and suffer a loss of income as a result.

What’s the difference between income protection insurance and overheads expense insurance?
Income protection insurance provides you with a proportion of your income if you can’t work because of an illness or injury. Overheads expense insurance (or practice expense insurance) provides reimbursement for the expenses of operating your practice if you’re ill or injured and can’t work. These expenses may include mortgage payments or rent, electricity, telephone, heat, water, laundry and other fixed costs normal to the operation of the practice and the costs of employing a locum.

Why do I need income protection insurance?
Nobody expects to fall ill or have an accident, and you may be prepared to gamble it won’t happen to you. However, dentistry is a physically and mentally demanding occupation, and it's no surprise that many dentists suffer some form of illness during their careers.

Ill health affects more people than you might think. According to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), as at August 2009, over two and a half million people of working age were claiming State incapacity benefits and, of these, half had been claming benefits for over five years.

According to the DWP, you have a one in seven chance of being off work for six months due to illness or injury during your working life. The longer someone is out of work due to ill-health, the lower their chance of getting back into work. If you're off sick for six months, you have an 80% chance of being off for five years.

Dentists' Provident protects over 13,000 dentists, and each year around 1,500 of these will claim benefits. Some of these members will never be able to return to work, and will receive benefits until they reach retirement age. Currently, we're paying long-term benefits to over 150 members, some of whom are just in their early 30s.

In light of these facts, the question is whether you can do without income protection insurance.

How much benefit can I receive?
The maximum initial cover available is £1,200 per week. However, your benefit payments can’t exceed 60% of your pre-incapacity earnings. We’ll also need to take into account any other insurance you hold and any ongoing income you receive from your business (e.g. employer sick pay or continuing profits from your business).

How will you calculate my pre-incapacity earnings?
In general terms, if you’re employed, your pre-incapacity income is the total of the pre-tax remuneration you received in the tax year immediately prior to you becoming unable to work.

If you own your own business, your pre-incapacity income is your share of taxable profits from the business in the tax year immediately prior to you becoming unable to work.

Please refer to the Key Features Document for full details of how we calculate pre-incapacity income in the event of a claim.

When will my cover start?
Your cover will start as soon as we’ve assessed and accepted your application and received the first month’s premium or a completed direct debit instruction.

Will my benefits automatically increase if my earnings increase?
No, you should review your cover regularly to ensure it remains adequate, although you can choose our Escalation of Cover option which will increase your cover annually in line with the Consumer Price Index. However, we’d still recommend a regular review of your cover to ensure that any increase in your income above the rate of inflation is adequately protected.

Remember, if you’re under-insured, your benefit payments may not meet your needs, but if your earnings are too low for the cover you’ve chosen, any claim may be restricted and we may not be able to refund the overpaid premiums.

Are the benefits taxable? 
Under current UK tax legislation, the incapacity benefit payments you receive from us aren’t liable to income tax. The cash lump sum you receive from your Bonus Account also isn’t liable to income tax or capital gains tax. However, tax regulations may change in the future.

Under present Irish tax law and Irish Revenue practice, our contract is treated as an unapproved Permanent Health Insurance Scheme in the Republic of Ireland which means any benefits due to you (including bonuses such as dividends, interest and a terminal bonus) are taxable. However, tax regulations may change in the future. 

What will my premium payments be?
Your Personalised Illustration will show the normal cost of the cover you have chosen. Your premium payments will depend upon your age, gender, occupation, smoking habits, medical history, personal circumstances and the level and features of the cover you have chosen. We will tell you the actual premiums you will pay once we have assessed your application.

Once you are a Member, your premiums payable will increase with age, unless you have chosen the Level Premiums option within certain packaged contracts.

All premiums are reviewable, which means your premium may be changed to reflect updated views on the expected cost of providing cover. Your premium can only be changed in this way on 1st January of any year. Your premium may go up or down, or may remain unchanged as a result of the review and there is no limit to the size of the potential change. The reviews will compare the costs allowed for in your premium with the updated view on future costs. We will not look to recoup past losses or redistribute past profits as part of a review and your premium will not be directly affected by whether you have claimed or not.

Why doesn’t Dentists’ Provident offer guaranteed premiums?
Dentists’ Provident chooses not to offer Guaranteed Premiums in order to ensure total fairness amongst our entire membership. By not offering Guaranteed Premiums, all members can benefit from any future downward pressure on premiums. No one group of members is disadvantaged or treated differently to another and we believe this is in the true spirit of mutuality. Our decision also ensures we can preserve the long-term financial strength of the Society for all our existing and future members.

We offer Level Premiums, whereby premiums are not subject to increases based on age (and won’t increase due to escalation), but this option is only available within our ‘Premier Package’.

All the premiums we offer (including Level Premiums) are reviewable, which means on 1st January of any year we may change them to reflect our updated view on the expected cost of providing cover. Your premium may go up or down, or may remain unchanged as a result of the review, with no limit to the size of the potential change. These reviews compare the costs allowed for in your premium with the updated view on future costs. We won’t look to recoup past losses as part of a review and your premium won’t be directly affected by whether you’ve claimed or not. We’ll give you at least 60 days’ notice of any review-related change and, if your premium is due to increase, you’ll have the option to leave your premium unchanged and reduce your level of cover instead.

Dentists’ Provident has maintained the current premium rate structure over the past 30 years, with premiums largely unchanged. In the last 10 years, our premiums have only been reviewed twice. On 1 January 2008 we launched our new, customisable contract and all premiums were reviewed as part of this. The review resulted in many premium rates being reduced by as much as 20% and the remainder of our premium rates staying unchanged. In order to better align our premium structure with the risk profile of our members, our next review took place in 2010, with premiums changing on 1 January 2011. As a result of this review, some members’ premiums were reduced by up to 14%, some were increased by no more than 6% and many premiums remained unchanged.

Can I claim tax relief on my premium payments?
Under current UK and Irish tax legislation, you can’t claim tax relief on your premiums. However, tax regulations may change in the future.

Does this insurance cover me for unemployment?
No, being unemployed won’t entitle you to claim benefit payments. However, if you become incapacitated whilst unemployed, you may be eligible for benefit payments up to a maximum of £1,500 per month. We’ll use the Activities of Daily Living tests to determine your entitlement.

Is the terminal bonus guaranteed?
No, the terminal bonus is determined by the performance of the investment markets and isn’t guaranteed. We reserve the right to alter the rate of the terminal bonus at any time. 

What happens if I die before age 60?
The balance of your Bonus Account will be paid to your estate. 

Can I nominate someone to receive money from my bonus account on my death?
Yes, members may nominate a person (or persons) to receive any amount from their Member’s Bonus Account upon their death, subject to the maximum limit set out in Section 6 of the Administration of Estates (Small Payments) Act 1965, as updated from time to time. The current overall maximum is £5,000 and any surplus funds above this statutory limit, and any funds remaining after paying out to your nominee(s), will be paid to your executors.

The nomination allows us to make a payment to your chosen nominee(s) without having to go through all the legal formalities which may delay the release of funds. All nominations must be made in writing by the member and must be witnessed by an individual who is not the beneficiary, partner, parent, child, sibling or otherwise closely connected by birth or marriage to the nominator. Any person nominated must not, at the date of the nomination, be an employee or director of the Society, unless they are a partner, parent, child, sibling or otherwise closely connected by birth or marriage to the person making the nomination. You may nominate an individual below the age of 16, however the funds will be paid to the minor’s parent or guardian. You may revoke or vary the nomination by notifying us in writing at any time. If you marry or divorce after signing this nomination, this will result in the automatic cancellation of all previous nominations made by you.

If you’d like a template nomination form, please contact our Member Services Department who will be happy to send this to you.

Can I put my membership into trust?
Commuted members can place their membership into trust. Unfortunately, however, we're unable to allow insured members to do so.

To put your membership into trust, we require a completed trust declaration form. We have a template form which is available by contacting our Member Services Department. We strongly recommend you consult a solicitor or other appropriate professional advisor as to its terms, and as to its effect for tax purposes.

How do I cancel my membership?
To cancel your membership, just write to our Member Services Department at Dentists' Provident, 91-94 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8QP.

What if I’m unhappy with the service provided by Dentists’ Provident?
We’re committed to the highest standards of service and, in order to maintain these high standards, we need you to tell us when we fail to live up to your expectations. We take all feedback extremely seriously. We’re committed to listening to our members and taking action where necessary.

If we’re unable to resolve your complaint immediately, we’ll acknowledge receipt of your correspondence within five working days and tell you the name or title of the person assigned to investigating and resolving your complaint.
Within four weeks of receiving your complaint, we’ll either:

• Issue a final response to your complaint; or
• Update you on the investigation and give you a date when we’ll contact you again.

Within eight weeks of receiving your complaint, we’ll either:

• Issue a final response to your complaint; or
• Tell you why we haven’t been able to provide a final response and indicate when we expect to be able to do so.

If you’re not satisfied with our final response, you may refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service or to our panel of independent arbitrators.

If you choose to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, you must do so within six months of receiving our final response.

Where can I find out more?
If you’d like to find out more about Dentists’ Provident or the benefits we offer, please refer to the Key Features Document, click on Contact Us or call our Member Services Department on +44 (0) 20 7400 5710 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.