Professional Indemnity Protection

You must be: a financial member or a financial affiliate member, and maintain that status while working; or a student registered with NPANZ (a Return to Nursing, Competence Assessment Programme or Student Nurse participant), covered for the entire period of study including clinical placements; or an Honorary Life Member of NPANZ. You must also perform your professional services in New Zealand and hold current registration where your role requires it.

Registered and enrolled employee nurses; registered and enrolled self-employed nurses; ancillary and related health-industry services (care workers, healthcare assistants, administration and orderlies); paramedics and ambulance officers; dental nurses and pharmacists; allied health professionals practising within scope and affiliated with the relevant regulatory body (acupuncturists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, psychologists); registered nursing professionals practising in alternative or natural therapies; and training, education and voluntary work in nursing. Only registered and enrolled employee nurses have voting rights. All other groups above have full access to services and protection as Affiliate (non-voting) members.

Any nurse or affiliate working outside New Zealand; midwives and chiropractors; doctors (medical practitioners); and alternative health providers who are not registered nurses. These groups are still welcome to join NPANZ as Affiliate (non-voting) members for industrial support and legal protection, even though this particular protection does not extend to them.

Protection is granted under three sections. A single claim responds under one section only.

• Professional Indemnity: legal liability for an actual or alleged negligent act, error or omission resulting in bodily injury or financial loss when providing a professional service in New Zealand. Extensions include vicarious liability for people working under your direct supervision, unintentional defamation (including allegations of inappropriate cultural safety practice, but not social media posts), unintentional breach of patient confidentiality, and loss of documents (sub-limit NZD 25,000 in the aggregate).
• Medical Malpractice: legal liability for a negligent act, error or omission resulting in bodily injury when providing a healthcare service, including Good Samaritan acts (where you voluntarily provide nursing or life-saving services at the scene of a medical emergency or during voluntary community service).
• Disciplinary & Regulatory Representation: legal defence costs, with the Mutual's prior written consent, for Nursing Council complaints and competence reviews, Health and Disability Commissioner complaints and investigations, Professional Conduct Committee investigations, Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal and Human Rights Review Tribunal proceedings, coronial inquests, WorkSafe New Zealand or Ministry of Health investigations arising from your professional service, and a Police interview or investigation before any charge is laid.

No protection is available under any section for an allegation of abuse, molestation, harassment, or conduct of a sexual or physically violent nature. This includes the cost of defending or responding to the allegation, applies to Nursing Council and Health and Disability Commissioner matters as well as civil claims, and applies whether or not the allegation is established, withdrawn or dismissed. If an allegation of this kind is made against you, you will need to fund your own response to it.

Criminal offences (including the defence of a criminal charge once laid) and claims arising from gross negligence or a dishonest, fraudulent or malicious breach of duty are not covered. Also not covered: fines and penalties, matters about your own employment, discipline or pay (NPANZ's industrial team supports you with those as part of your membership), telehealth and other virtual consultations, cyber loss, work outside your registration or scope of practice, and any matter you knew about before you joined. Claims from an un-financial member are not covered unless the member has registered as having ceased practice, in which case run-off cover applies for 84 months. Protection applies only to claims first made against you and notified to the Mutual during the Protection Period.

No. No claimant, member or affiliate, has to pay any excess in the event of a claim.

Red Union Workers' Mutual Limited is a discretionary mutual, not an insurer, and this protection is not a contract of insurance. There is no automatic right to be paid. Instead, you have an automatic right to have a request for protection considered by the Mutual's Board, and the Board decides in good faith whether to grant protection and how much to pay. The Mutual is an Australian company limited by guarantee and is not subject to prudential capital or solvency standards, so its ability to meet claims depends on its reserves and contribution income.

Protection is active for 12 months and renewal is at the Mutual's discretion. You can cancel within 30 days of being issued protection for a full refund (if no claim or circumstance has been notified), or at any time on 30 days' notice for a pro rata refund.

Tell the Mutual as soon as practicable about any claim, or any circumstance that may lead to a claim, and about any Nursing Council notification or investigation. Call +64 4 887 6888 or email hotline@nursesunion.co.nz. Do not notify a reinsurer. Notice to a reinsurer is not notice to the Mutual.

You can refer the matter to the Mutual's Complaints Manager, or ask for it to be referred to the Board, and make a written submission within 60 days of being told of the decision. The Mutual will give a final response within 30 calendar days. The Mutual is not currently a member of an approved dispute resolution scheme in New Zealand, and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) is not available to New Zealand members. You can also seek independent legal advice. To ask for a copy of the Protection Wording (RUWM-PW-NZ-NURSE-v1.0), contact us.

Professional indemnity protection responds to claims that may arise in relation to your professional practice, including disciplinary, fitness-to-practise and competency matters before the Nursing Council; coronial inquiries and inquests; complaints and investigations by the Health and Disability Commissioner; and proceedings in the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal or Human Rights Review Tribunal. Legal advice and representation is one of the largest costs a health practitioner faces in these situations.