Consultants

We have a comprehensive medical malpractice indemnity insurance package which is underwritten by CNA Insurance Company Ltd on a claims made basis. We are accepting quotation applications from all consulting practitioners who are on the Irish Medical Councils Specialist Register. If you would like to receive a quotation from us please complete our online application form below.

Benefits of Our Cover

Medical Malpractice Indemnity and Professional Indemnity Claims Made Policy Wordings and Public Liability
Medical Indemnity Limits operate in cognisance of the clinical indemnity scheme cap limit programme
Competitive Annual Premiums for all specialties (excl obstetrics)
Cover for Medico Legal Work (included in policy limits)
Legal Expenses for Regulatory Hearing, Inquest, Coroner Defence Costs e.g. Medical Council, Disciplinary Hearings etc.... (sub limit of €500,000)
21 Year Run Off Cover automatically included for death, permanent disablement or retirement i.e. run-off factored in to all quotations
€0 (Zero) Indemnity Policy Excess
Cover for Good Samaritan Acts - Worldwide

Our Underwriters

CNA is the 8th largest U.S. commercial property and casualty insurance company. Founded in 1897, CNA has approximately 7,000 employees, serving businesses and professionals in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. CNA products and services are sold by highly regarded independent agents and brokers.

Financial Strength Ratings - CNA P&C Insurance Group as of August 2020

A.M. Best: A (Excellent); Standard & Poor’s: A+(Strong); Moody’s: A2 with all rating outlooks stable.

You can download the following document to obtain a summary of CNA as of August 2020.
‘CNA at a Glance’

Our vision for CNA is simple.
We offer more than just a policy – we deliver distinctive insurance solutions and we promise a superior customer experience.

Dino E. Robusto, Chairman & CEO.

More Of What You Value

Deep industry and product expertise

Insurance solutions from CNA are based on a deep understanding of our customers and theirindustries. You benefit from insurance protection designed for your business and aligned with your goals.
Broad underwriting appetite

In addition to our broad appetite for business risks, CNA focuses on construction, manufacturing, technology, healthcare, professional services, financial institutions and small business. The breadth of our product portfolio enables CNA to provide customized insurance solutions that anticipate and address our customers’ risks.
Claim and risk control excellence

Our services will help you better understand your risks, reduce loss costs, restore your operations and increase productivity. CNA’s Risk Control specialists were the first in the industry to be awarded the UL Recognized Risk Engineer professional designation.
Local presence

CNA has opened new offices and added branch staff to respond even more effectively to our producers and their clients. We know your time is valuable. From providing a quick quote to walking you through the claim process, CNA is focused on delivering service when and where you want it.

Legal Team

At Challenge we have our own in-house medico legal expertise and we operate our own 24 hour helpline for our healthcare clients. This service caters for the majority of our pre-litigation queries. For legal matters we have access to a panel of solicitor firms listed below:

Daniel Spring & Co Solicitors - Donal, Fiona and their Healthcare Law team are widely recognised within the healthcare industry. They are also a nominated firm on the State Claims Agency panel and would have extensive experience in dealing with catastrophic injuries claims, fatal injuries claims and representing practitioners at inquests and Tribunals of Inquiry. For further details see www.danielspring.ie

DAC Beachcroft Dublin are a leading international legal business with more than 2,200 people and coverage across the UK, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and North America. For further details see www.dacbeachcroft.com/en/gb/about/locations/dublin/

Broking Team

The Challenge Broking Team consists of personnel with indemnity underwriting, broking and medico-legal experience.

David Walsh

Phone: +353 (87) 1317107
Email: dave@challenge.ie

The team is headed up by Challenge MD, Mr David Walsh. David has spent a number of years investing in broking and CRM technology to establish the company as an efficient insurance provider with the ability to meet the indemnity demands and needs of modern professionals.

David was also invested time and resources into developing strong relations with medical industry and governmental representatives who have provided assistance to Challenge with establishing the comprehensive offering available to private consultants today.

Any broking queries can be sent directly to David to dave@challenge.ie

Ann O’Driscoll

Medico-Legal Advisor / Claims Management

Phone: +353 (87) 2303679
Email: ann@challenge.ie

The Challenge Medico-Legal and Claims Management team is headed up by Ann O’Driscoll who is a solicitor and former nurse and midwife.

For the past 20 years, Ann has specialised in defending medical malpractice claims and representing doctors and nurses at inquests and Fitness to Practice enquiries. She advises healthcare organisations on clinical risk, clinical governance and medico-legal matters. She is highly regarded in both legal and healthcare circles. Ann is also a lecturer and examiner on the UCD Graduate Diploma in Health Care (Risk Management and Quality) course. She is a sought-after speaker at healthcare conferences, seminars and study days. Ann's approach to clinical and healthcare risk management is very much hands-on, with an emphasis on offering practical, safe solutions to her clients' legal and business needs. She achieves this by combining her legal and clinical expertise with a large dose of common sense. She is an accredited mediator.

Ann and her team participate in and assist with study days and workshops organised by healthcare clients. Ann also advises and assists healthcare organisations with attaining accreditation status. Ann and her team carry out on-site pre-accreditation clinical and health and safety risk surveys. This service is unique to DAC Beachcroft Dublin.

Before joining Challenge Ann was a partner at DAC Beachcroft Dublin, and a partner in the Healthcare Department of Mason Hayes + Curran. Prior to joining Mason Hayes + Curran, Ann headed up the medico-legal and risk management department at Hayes McGrath Solicitors. Ann also worked for seven years with St. Paul Ireland Insurance as the Senior Medico-legal Advisor to the St. Paul-insured 'State Medical Indemnity Scheme' which insured approximately 4,000 non-consultant hospital doctors. Ann headed up a team of solicitors and risks managers who advised and assisted healthcare professionals and organizations on clinical risk and medico-legal matters.

Clients enthuse about Ann O'Driscoll, saying she is 'a real fountain of knowledge. She really knows her stuff and is very committed to achieving what the client wants to do.'

Chambers and Partners Europe 2014 Edition, Dispute Resolution, Ireland

Clients note: 'She has a superb reputation and her knowledge of the area is just amazing.'

Chambers and Partners Europe 2013 Edition, Dispute Resolution, Ireland

Dan Farrell

Business Development Executive

Email: dan@challenge.ie

Dan joined the Challenge Team as Business Development Executive in July 2015. Dan is an experienced insurance professional with over 10 years’ combined underwriting and insurance broking experience. Dan, who is CIP qualified, helps to manage our existing book of clients as well obtaining quotations for new applicants. If you have any quotation queries don’t hesitate to contact dan@challenge.ie

Joe Walsh

Director

Joe is a qualified insurance professional and has been on the board of Challenge since the company was established in 2006. He has played an integral part in growing relations with partners of Challenge over the previous 10 years. Joe would also oversee all compliance matters at Challenge and would work closely with the Compliance Support Initiative at Brokers Ireland.

FAQ's

1. Who are we ?

We are local, specialist indemnity insurance brokers, who have spent over 3 years developing the medical indemnity insurance market for private consultants and dentists registered in Ireland. We now have a comprehensive indemnity offering at very competitive rates for specialist practitioners on the Medical Council Specialist Register. Challenge Medical Indemnity is underwritten by CNA Insurance Company Ltd who are authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (UK).

Challenge Insurance Brokers Ltd is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

2. Who are we ?

Challenge Insurance Brokers Ltd is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

3. What guarantee or comfort can the member have that you will remain in the indemnity market for the remainder of his/her professional career, which can be up to 35 years at least?

You can have comfort that Challenge Medical Indemnity will be around in this sector for many years to come. We are a young and innovative insurance services provider who have spent over 3 years researching this market for consultants on the Medical Council specialist register, culminating in the comprehensive offering we have today. We cannot provide any guarantees with regards to Insurance Companies (nor can any other insurer or defence organisation), what we can say is that CNA Insurance Company Ltd are an ‘A’ rated insurer (6th largest insurer in US and operational in 8 EU countries) who have given us their commitment to the Irish Market. The medical indemnity insurance market is a more competitive environment then the defence organisations as there are more suppliers in the market. i.e. if CNA did decide to increase their rates unfairly we have the option to approach other available indemnity insurers.

4. What are the projected costs for years 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 after initiation of policy?

Your medical indemnity insurance is rated every year based on information contained within your application form, each year you will be asked to complete a declaration prior to renewal, confirming if there are any significant changes to the original application form re practice description, procedure numbers, fee income, claims etc. All things being equal the premium should remain constant every year. However as well as your individual circumstances, as with all insurance companies, there are also external factors which could affect your premium (up or down) from many variables incl inflation, insurance company performance, specialty performance, cost of claims etc.

5. With regard to fighting claims incurred in the Courts, what infrastructure of medicolegal advice does your company have in place to address these matters.

Challenge has its own in-house experienced medico legal team for pre-litigation queries. The Challenge Medico-Legal Helpline number is 01-8395942. All Challenge clients have access to our helpline. Our underwriters would also engage with experienced and recognised law firms when dealing with personal injury claims

6. What is the projected cost for run off or tail cover and for how many years will tail cover be offered as part of your policy

Our exclusive consultant indemnity scheme with CNA Insurance Company Ltd will provide you with an automatic 21 year run-off cover period for death, permanent disablement or permanent retirement. The cost of this has been factored into the annual premium quoted so there is no additional cost for run-off cover at retirement.

7. What is the projected cost for run off or tail cover and for how many years will tail cover be offered as part of your policy

8. What guarantee or comfort can the member have that you will remain in the indemnity market for the remainder of his/her professional career, which can be up to 35 years at least?

9. What happens in relation to tail or run off cover in the event that the member ceases his policy with you after e.g. 8 years with 12 years left in routine practice to follow, after which he/she takes out indemnity with an alternative insurer.

If a practitioner was to leave our medical indemnity policy for reasons other than death, perm disablement or perm retirement , where they were moving to would dictate what their requirements would be. A) If they were moving to another claims-made provider, in all likelihood this provider should be offering to match the retroactive date on our policy (i.e. they would take over the retrospective cover as is the norm when moving claims-made provider) B) If they were moving back to a claims-occurrence provider, they would need to purchase run-off cover for the period they were with us. (Claims-made cover should always be more economical than claims-occurrence cover so this scenario is unlikely imo) C) if they were moving back to full time public practice (i.e with HSE) they would need to purchase run-off cover for the period they were with us.

10. When should a Claim or Circumstance be reported?

The requirement under your policy is to report all Claims and Circumstances to us immediately. Please do not delay in reporting a matter whilst you finalise your investigations into the Claim or Circumstance. Any additional documentation/ information concerning the Claim or Circumstance should be forwarded as and when it becomes available.

11. Can I appoint a firm of solicitors of my choosing?

CNA have a panel of law firms who they consider as trusted advisors and experts in the field of medical liability litigation who they will engage on your behalf. Their lawyers work in accordance with their legal services guidelines to ensure the best total claim outcome.

12. What do I do if I am disappointed with the service received ?

Challenge Insurance Brokers Ltd has a written procedure in place for the effective consideration and handling of complaints. Any complaints should be addressed in writing to The Complaints Officer, Challenge House, 28 Willie Nolan Road, Baldoyle, Dublin 13. Each complaint will be acknowledged within 5 working days of receipt, updates will be advised in intervals of not more than 20 working days. We will endeavour to resolve the complaint within 40 business days and findings will be furnished within 5 working days of completion of investigation. In the event that you are not entirely satisfied with our handling of and response to your complaint, contact may be made with the Irish Brokers Association, 87 Merrion Square, Dublin 2 and you also have the right to complain to the Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau, 3^rd Floor, Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2 Tel: 1890 – 882090 and email enquiries@financialombudsman.ie.

13. What is Allied World’s file policy re closure of claim files?

All claim files are reviewed at regular intervals and Allied World adopt an early closure policy when there is no activity on the file and it is considered that the matter is unlikely to develop further.

14. What would be the impact on subsequent premia in the event of a member having (a) receipt of a complaint (b) initiation of legal and court proceedings (c) an award for negligence against the member

1. There is no pre-determined premium adjustment for a consultant being involved in a), b) or c). As mentioned in 2. underwriters consider many factors when quoting an individual application. Claims experience and complaints history are considered as part of this process, underwriters will look at both the frequency and severity of incidents on a practitioners history. They will also consider the nature of the incidents and will have a number of options open to them to mitigate against future losses. A premium increase is one option available to them but they can also promote risk management procedures to prevent similar incidents reoccurring or else offer restricted cover in more extreme cases. Our legal partners at DAC Beachcroft will also be on hand to offer assistance to practitioners with poor claims history.

Some useful links & documents below
Clinical Indemnity Scheme - Who is covered ?
Clinical Indemnity Scheme - CAP Limits and Applicable Periods

Consultant Medical Indemnity Application
CNA at a Glance August 2020