Dentists Provident

Having an accident, illness or injury is not something we normally think about. However, on top of the obvious physical and mental effects of being unwell, not being able to work could put you and your family under serious financial strain.

If you can’t work, you are likely to find that your income reduces or stops altogether, whether from your own practice or sick pay from your employer. Your bills and other financial commitments, on the other hand, won’t. This is where income protection comes in, by helping to replace the income you lose by not being able to work.

Whether you are young or old, single or with a family, income protection can give you the financial support you and your family need, so that you can concentrate on your recovery, however long that may be.

Our plan

Our plan is designed by experts working closely with dental professionals, just like you. So you can be sure that whatever stage your career is at, we have a plan to suit your lifestyle and needs. Our business is based on the simple principle that our members should never have to compromise on levels of service or the quality of their cover.

Being owned and run by dental professionals, we do not make profits for anyone else – our profits are only ever used to improve the products, services and benefits we provide our members.

Whether your needs are simple or complex, we are confident that you will find a customised plan that is right for you, whatever your budget.

Select income protection plan (Ireland)

Maximum monthly cover	Maximum proportion of your qualifying income that can be paid as benefits	What your illness or injury has to stop you doing during a claim	Maximum period we will pay your claim	Waiting periods available
€8,666	75%	Your own occupation	Until you are 65	9 waiting periods, including no waiting period to 1, 4, 8, 12, 13, 26, 52 and 104 weeks

Key features More detail

How much does it cost?

Our plans are designed to give you control, so you can customise this plan to suit your unique needs. To find out more about what it costs to protect your lifestyle, please click here.

How to apply

You can apply for the plan by clicking here. Our online application process is fast and convenient. Once we receive your application, we will call you for a health and lifestyle interview, to collect the information we need to decide on the most suitable terms and conditions for your plan.

You can also apply for our plan through your independent financial adviser or by completing a paper application. You can obtain an application pack by contacting our member services team.

We are not allowed to give you financial advice, which means we can’t recommend whether or not this plan is right for you. If you don’t have a financial adviser or would prefer to speak to us, we are happy to answer any questions you may have to help you make your own decision.

Examples case studies

These case studies are for illustration only and not based on real individuals. They are not designed to provide financial advice, nor are they intended to make any recommendations regarding the suitability of our plans for a particular individual.

Siobhan Sweeny

Siobhan qualified eight years ago from Cork and she has worked in a rural general practice ever since. Siobhan and her young family recently moved back to Cork where she started work in a new town centre practice.

With a young family Siobhan was concerned about the effect of a long term illness on the household finances and chose Dentists’ Provident for her income protection needs. She chose the Select income protection plan as she wanted flexible and high quality cover with the peace of mind of having guaranteed premium rates.

Siobhan earns €100,000 a year and has gone for the maximum cover based on her income of €5,750 a month. She chose a waiting period of four weeks, which means she would only be able to claim benefits after she was ill or injured for more than four weeks.

Since Siobhan was worried about a long term illness, she chose her plan to end when she was 65 years old and for her cover to be linked to inflation.

Siobhan pays a monthly premium of €257.71 for her cover.

Brian Dempsey

Brian graduated two years ago from Dublin. He is now an associate in a practice in Clara, Co Offaly. He joined Dentists’ Provident just after he graduated. He is now buying a house and has decided to buy additional income protection cover to make sure his mortgage payments and day to day expenses are covered if he could not work because of an illness or injury.

Brian earns €70,000 a year but has decided to only cover himself with €3,750 of cover a month, which roughly covers the first £50,000 of his annual income. As he already has cover of €1,950 from before, he has decided to take out monthly cover of €1,800 under the Select income protection plan.

Not having a huge disposable income, because of his other financial commitments, Brian decided not to take any optional features. He also chose reviewable premiums, where the starting cost is lower than guaranteed premiums. This allowed Brian to have cover from his first day of illness or injury and stay within his budget.

Brian pays €82.40 in total for the cover under his two plans.

Ciara O’Keefe

Ciara is a 42 year old dentist and keen mountain biker. On her principal’s recommendation she took out her income protection plan with Dentists’ Provident some years ago, when she worked as one of three associates in a Gorey practice.

She is now a practice owner of a small mixed practice in Wexford and even though she receives some income from the practice, it does not cover all her personal financial commitments. She was paid €8,000 in benefits last summer, when she broke her collarbone after she fell off her bike and was off work for a few months. This allowed her the chance to recover from her injury, without worrying about the household finances.

John Alexander

John is a 46 year old consultant maxillofacial surgeon. As well as working in a Dublin hospital, he has a private clinic and is also a part time university lecturer. John has a policy with another insurer which covers his hospital earnings and a plan with Dentists’ Provident to cover his income from the university and private clinic.

He has two young children and is usually busy juggling his personal and professional commitments. But the last few years have been different; last year he went back to work after taking an entire summer off due to problems with his shoulder and neck, which meant he was in too much pain to work. As he had made sure his income protection cover was up to date, he still received an income to fund his family's lifestyle.

Making a claim

We are owned by our members. This means that your interest always come first and never more so than when you need to make a claim. Our claims process is simple and easy. Once you have completed your claim form, simply ask your doctor to complete the confidential medical certificate at the back and then return your fully completed claim form to us along with the evidence of your income. If you need help our claims team is only a phone call away.

Other ways your membership supports you

As a member, in addition to your cover, we support you with access to information and guidance from relevant, reputable third parties to help in your practising and personal life. Whether it’s advice on posture and back care, offers for ergonomic equipment, complimentary preventive care, exercise classes and techniques or reduced prices for lectures, we want to support your health and wellbeing throughout your membership.

We regularly produce publications, with valuable third party offers, information, news and articles. For more information about our exclusive member benefits, please see our member benefits page.

If something is not right

We want you to be happy with your plan and our service, but sometimes we may not live up to the standards we set ourselves. If that happens, please let us know and we will work hard to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. If you are still not satisfied with how we have dealt with things, then you can go through our formal complaints process.

Our complaints process

If you have a complaint, we will acknowledge it in writing within five working days of receiving it. We aim to resolve all complaints within four weeks, however sometimes this can take longer. If this happens, we will write to you to explain the reason for the delay and provide an indication of when you can expect our decision, along with details of the options available to you. If you are not satisfied with our final response, you can choose to either refer the matter to our panel of independent arbitrators or the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The contact details for the Financial Ombudsman Service are:

Financial Ombudsman Service

Exchange Tower

London

E14 9SR

Phone: 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9 123

Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Web: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Complaining to the Ombudsman will not affect your legal rights. For further information about your legal rights, please contact your solicitor or the Citizens Advice Bureau.

Our plans for you