Property insurance
Surgery Insurance
property cover for GP surgeries and dental practices: the building, the clinical equipment and the income they produce
Property cover for a GP surgery or dental practice: the building, clinical equipment, medicines and lost income. Claims about clinical treatment sit in separate indemnity, not in this cover.
- GP surgeries and dental practices
- Buildings, equipment and lost income
- Owners, partners and tenants
- FCA authorised and regulated
Quick answerSurgery insurance covers the premises side of a GP surgery or dental practice: the building if you are responsible for it, the contents and clinical equipment, and, where included, medicines, vaccines and the income lost if damage stops the practice working. Liability sections can be added. Clinical indemnity sits outside this cover. Tell MyMoneyComparison.com about the practice once, and specialist UK brokers can come back with quotes.
This page is about insuring the practice premises. Claims about clinical treatment sit in indemnity cover, touched on in our medical malpractice insurance page. Residential care premises are on care home insurance.
At a glance
Surgery Property Cover, in Brief
Six things that decide how surgery property insurance behaves, before any of the detail.
- The building
- If you own it or the lease makes you responsible
- Clinical equipment
- Dental chairs, X-ray units, couches and sterilisers
- Medicines and vaccines
- Stock spoiled when a fridge fails
- Lost income
- Business interruption if damage stops the practice
- Records and systems
- Computers, data and cyber risks
- Indemnity is separate
- Clinical claims are not in property cover
The basics
What Is Surgery Insurance?
As property cover, it insures a practice’s building, contents, clinical equipment and medicines, and the income the practice produces, against events such as fire, flood, escape of water and theft.
The building
For owners, or tenants whose lease makes them responsible.
Clinical equipment
Dental chairs, X-ray units, couches, sterilisers and diagnostic kit.
Medicines and vaccines
Stock damaged, or spoiled when refrigeration fails, where included.
Business interruption
Lost income and extra costs while damage stops the practice.
Equipment breakdown
Clinical and building equipment failing, where the section is added.
Liability sections
Public, property owners’ and employers’ liability.
How it works
How Does Surgery Insurance Work?
You describe the premises, the equipment and the practice, set the values, and the insurer sets terms. Changes during the year are reported so the cover keeps up.
You describe the practice
GP or dental, the premises, who owns the building, the staff and the opening hours.
You set the values
A rebuild figure where you insure the building, and the replacement cost of equipment. The method is in our guide to calculating a rebuild value.
The insurer sets terms
The schedule lists the sections, the limits and any conditions for security, fridges or servicing.
Changes are reported during the year
New equipment, building work, a new partner or a move of premises can change the cover.
What it covers
What Does Surgery Insurance Cover?
The building where you are responsible, contents and clinical equipment, medicines, lost income, and breakdown and liability sections that can be added.
| Section | Where it sits | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Buildings | If you are responsible | Insured for the rebuild figure on the schedule |
| Contents and clinical equipment | Core | Furniture, IT and clinical kit |
| Medicines and vaccines | Optional on some policies | Including spoilage when fridges fail |
| Business interruption | Optional on some policies | Lost income and increased costs |
| Equipment breakdown | Optional | Chairs, X-ray units and building plant |
| Public and employers’ liability | Core or optional | The limits are set on your schedule |
| Computers and data | Optional on some policies | Hardware and restoring records |
| Money, glass and legal expenses | Optional | Shown on the schedule where included |
Clinical indemnity is separate. Claims that treatment harmed a patient sit in clinical indemnity arrangements, not in the practice property cover.
Exclusions
What Surgery Insurance Does Not Include
Clinical treatment claims, gradual damage, unmaintained equipment, and losses where the conditions on the schedule were not met.
Clinical treatment claims
These sit in separate indemnity cover.
Wear, tear and gradual damage
Maintenance is not an insured event.
Breakdown without the section
Equipment failure needs a breakdown section.
Spoilage without monitoring
Some policies require fridge temperatures to be checked.
Hacking and data breaches
Can need a cyber policy or extension.
Theft without forced entry
Some policies pay theft only after forcible entry or exit.
Types
Which Practices Can Be Covered?
GP surgeries, dental practices and other clinical premises. The equipment and the building matter more to the property cover than the specialty.
GP surgeries
Consulting rooms, treatment rooms and vaccine stock.
Dental practices
Chairs, X-ray units and sterilising equipment.
Health centres
Several practices or services in one building.
Private clinics
Specialist equipment to value.
Converted houses
Older buildings adapted for clinical use.
Purpose-built premises
Modern buildings, sometimes leased.
Administrative offices only? See our office insurance page.
Who it is for
Who Needs Surgery Insurance
Anyone responsible for a practice’s premises or equipment, whether they own the building, lease it or share it.
GP partnerships
Owning or leasing the surgery building.
Dental practice owners
With high-value clinical equipment.
Practice companies
Insured in the company’s name.
Tenants
Where the lease decides who insures the building.
Landlords of practice buildings
Letting premises to a practice.
New practices
Fitting out or taking over premises.
Property or indemnity
Practice Property Cover vs Clinical Indemnity
Property cover protects the premises and equipment. Clinical indemnity protects against claims about treatment. A practice can need both, arranged separately.
| Property cover | Clinical indemnity | |
|---|---|---|
| The building and equipment | Covered | Not covered |
| Lost practice income | Optional section | Not covered |
| A patient harmed by treatment | Not covered | Covered |
| Who arranges it | The practice | A state scheme or the clinician |
Letting premises to a practice? Our commercial landlord insurance page covers the landlord’s side.
Cost
What Surgery Insurance Is Priced On
The building, the equipment values, the location, the security, the income insured and the claims history. We do not print average premiums.
Why the equipment leads
Dental chairs, imaging and sterilising equipment can be worth a great deal, so equipment values drive much of the contents side of the price.
Why the building matters too
Where you insure the building, its rebuild figure and construction feed the rate.
What the quote is rated on
The main factors
- Equipment and contentsReplacement valuesBase
- The buildingWhere you insure itRate
- Location and securityCrime, flood, drugs on siteRate
- Income insuredFor business interruptionRate
- HistoryPast claimsAdjust
Flood exposure
Flood Re is for homes, not practices, so flood terms are set by the insurer.
Staff numbers
The employers’ liability section is rated on the staff you employ.
Vaccine stock
Higher stock values add to the medicines section.
Equipment and stock
The Equipment and Stock Conditions That Decide a Surgery Claim
Surgery property claims can turn on whether conditions about fridges, equipment, security and building work were met. Four come up again and again.
Monitor vaccine and medicine fridges
Some policies expect temperatures to be checked and recorded, and a fridge alarm fitted, before spoilage is covered.
Keep clinical equipment serviced
Service records for chairs, X-ray units and sterilisers, where the policy sets conditions or breakdown cover applies.
Secure medicines and equipment
Where the schedule names an alarm or locks, a theft while they were not in use may not be covered.
Declare building work first
Fit-outs, extensions and refurbishments change the risk. Tell the insurer before they start.
Quote checklist
What You Will Be Asked for a Surgery Insurance Quote
Six things shape the quote: the practice, the premises, the equipment, medicines, the income, and the claims history.
The practice
GP or dental, staff, and who owns it.
The premises
Address, construction, and whether you own or lease.
The equipment
Replacement values for clinical kit and IT.
Medicines and vaccines
Typical stock values and fridge monitoring.
Income
For business interruption.
Claims history
Recent claims and any past refusals of cover.
Comparing
Checking Surgery Insurance Quotes Side by Side
Four areas decide whether a policy suits the practice: equipment, medicines, business interruption, and liability and extras. None of them is the price.
Equipment
- The equipment limit
- New for old or indemnity
- Equipment breakdown
Medicines and vaccines
- The spoilage limit
- Fridge monitoring conditions
- Power failure cover
Business interruption
- The indemnity period
- Increased cost of working
- Cover if access is blocked
Liability and extras
- Public and employers’ liability
- Computers and data
- Legal expenses
Check the fridge conditions. A vaccine claim can depend on records you keep every day. Unfamiliar terms are explained in our plain English jargon guide.
Cutting costs
How to Reduce the Cost of Surgery Insurance
The levers are good security, fridge monitoring, accurate values, and the excess. We publish no savings figures.
Fit fridge alarms
Monitoring can help the medicines terms.
Improve the security
Alarms, access control and CCTV can help the terms.
Value equipment accurately
Too high wastes premium; too low invites a reduced claim.
Keep servicing records
For clinical equipment and building plant.
Back up records
It limits the damage from a loss and helps with cyber terms.
Choose the excess deliberately
A higher excess is a lever, worth using only at a level the practice could absorb.
Glossary
Surgery Insurance Terms Explained
The words that come up most on a surgery property schedule.
- Clinical indemnity
- Separate cover for claims about treatment.
- Contents
- Furniture, IT and clinical equipment.
- Deterioration of stock
- Cover for medicines spoiled when refrigeration fails.
- Equipment breakdown
- Cover for equipment failing mechanically or electrically.
- Business interruption
- Cover for income lost after insured damage.
- Increased cost of working
- Extra costs to keep the practice running.
- Indemnity period
- How long business interruption cover pays for.
- Rebuild figure
- The cost of rebuilding the premises, not their sale price.
- Average
- A reduction in a claim when the sum insured is too low.
- Excess
- The part of each claim you pay yourself.
Why MyMoneyComparison.com
Why Compare Surgery Insurance with MyMoneyComparison.com?
MyMoneyComparison.com is an FCA-authorised UK comparison service that introduces GP and dental practices to specialist brokers. We do not sell insurance and we do not give advice: the broker you choose arranges the policy. Using us is free.
One form, one practice
Describe the practice once, instead of repeating yourself to each broker.
Advice given
We are an introducer, not a broker. We do not sell policies and we do not recommend one insurer or product over another. Read our editorial policy.
Authorised and regulated
MyMoneyComparison.com Ltd appears on the FCA register under FRN 916241.
Incorporated
A UK company since 2013. FCA authorisation is separate and later; the register carries its date.
FAQs
Surgery Insurance FAQs
Answers on equipment, vaccines, leases, lost income and indemnity.
What is surgery insurance?
As property cover, it insures a GP surgery or dental practice’s building where you are responsible for it, its contents, clinical equipment and medicines, and the income the practice produces. Liability sections can be added.
Does surgery insurance cover claims about treatment?
No. Claims that treatment harmed a patient sit in clinical indemnity, which for NHS GP work comes through a state-backed scheme, and is separate from the practice property cover described on this page.
Who insures the building if we lease the surgery?
The lease decides. Some leases have the landlord insure the building and recharge the cost, and others put that duty on the practice. Each party insures its own contents and income.
Is our dental equipment covered?
Chairs, X-ray units, sterilisers and other clinical equipment can be covered under contents against fire, theft and other insured events. Breakdown needs an equipment breakdown section.
Are vaccines covered if the fridge fails?
Only if the policy includes medicines or deterioration of stock cover. Some policies require temperatures to be monitored and recorded, and an alarm fitted, before spoilage is paid.
What is business interruption cover for a practice?
It pays income lost and extra costs while insured damage stops the practice working normally, for up to the indemnity period you choose. It generally follows damage the policy covers.
Does it cover the cost of temporary premises?
An increased cost of working section can pay extra costs to keep seeing patients, such as renting temporary premises, up to its limit. Check the limit and how long it runs.
How do I set the rebuild figure for surgery premises?
For the whole building, as the cost of rebuilding it, not its sale price. A professional assessment is the most reliable way, and the figure is worth reviewing regularly.
What happens if the practice is underinsured?
The insurer can reduce a claim in proportion to the shortfall. Policies differ in how and when they apply this, and some waive it where the figure came from a professional valuation.
Are our computers and patient records covered?
Computer hardware can be covered under contents, and some policies help with restoring data. Hacking and data breaches can need a separate cyber policy or extension.
Do we need employers’ liability?
Employing staff usually brings a duty to hold employers’ liability cover, with some exceptions. It covers staff who are injured or fall ill because of their work.
Does public liability cover patients who fall in the practice?
Public liability covers injury to patients and visitors caused by the premises, such as a trip on a damaged floor. It does not cover the treatment itself.
Is theft of medicines covered?
Theft can be covered under contents or a medicines section, subject to the security conditions on the schedule. Some policies pay theft only after forcible entry or exit.
Do we need to tell the insurer about a refit?
Yes. Fit-outs, extensions and refurbishments change the risk, and some policies set conditions for contractors. Tell the insurer before the work starts, not after it has begun.
Can several practices go on one policy?
With some insurers, yes. A group can insure several sites on one schedule, with each building and its equipment described and insured for its own values.
How do I compare surgery insurance quotes?
Look beyond the price to the equipment limit, medicines and fridge conditions, equipment breakdown, the business interruption period, the liability sections and the excess you would pay.
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About this page
This page explains UK surgery property insurance: what it covers, what it leaves out, and how equipment, medicines and the rebuild figure shape a claim. It is general information rather than advice. Policies differ between insurers, so read your own documents and put the questions raised here to your insurer or broker.
How we approached this page
- Published UK surgery and clinical premises policies
- Public health guidance on vaccine storage
- The Flood Re eligibility criteria
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