FAQs

To be a registered Practitioner/Member of the NHPNZ you are required to have Insurance Cover. The NHPNZ Insurance Policy is a comprehensive, and the best value policy possible, that will cover you for all the modalities that you are qualified and registered with, in your Natural Therapy or Natural Medicine practice.

Whilst ACC covers most things that are caused by an accident, whether it is in the workplace or privately, there are a number of things they don’t cover such as stress, hurt feelings or other emotional issues.

In addition to this one of the advantages of having insurance cover is that it also includes cover for defence costs if someone tries to sue the member for any perceived or alleged mistreatment etc.

This can be very costly which of course ACC won’t cover. If for instance a client accused one of the members of causing emotional stress and harm due to a perceived wrong treatment it could be a very costly legal process before any agreement is reached.

As part of the insurance package Statutory Liability is a very important part. This once again is something that ACC doesn’t cover

Statutory Liability Insurance
This covers the cost of defending claims and any expenses where any member of the public accuses an NHPNZ member of a breach of acts of New Zealand Parliament in force at the time of claiming. Most common Acts are –

Privacy Act
The aim is to protect a person’s privacy by establishing principles for collecting, using and disclosing personal information. It also gives individuals access to stored information.

Consumers Guarantees Act
Provides guarantees for consumers in the supply of goods and services and gives consumers rights against suppliers and manufacturers in the event of an alleged Breach of the Act.

Fair Trading Act
Prohibits misleading conduct and practice in trade. 

Yes. With the majority of these, early notification to the NHPNZ has meant these have been resolved before getting to the litigation stage.

However, over the past three years one of our long-serving practitioners has unfortunately been facing a legal battle initiated by the Ministry of Health.

The complaint was originally lodged by the complainant with the Health and Disability Commissioner. It was subsequently referred to the Ministry of Health to assess whether the activity performed by the practitioner was considered a restricted activity pursuant to the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act (Restricted Activities) Order 2005. Health practitioners under HPCA are not permitted to perform activities outside their scope of practice.

This case has been a very long drawn out, difficult and highly resource intensive exercise, however, the fantastic news is the practitioner was recently acquitted of all charges.

This is a great result when one considers the number of resources that the Ministry of Health have at their disposal.

The practitioner concerned advised us of the acquittal and sent back a heartfelt reply saying “I’m indebted to you for your support. Yes, I know it’s all part of being a member and having insurance, but it’s more than just that, it was very tough and overwhelming, and I sincerely believe without your support and guidance through the whole process, I would have not got through it. It’s the worst experience I have ever had to face in my life.”

Do not engage in dialogue or admit responsibility and do not incur any costs without the insurer’s agreement. 

Regrettably, natural health practitioners are not immune from complaints, and they can happen at any time. As a health professional, small mistakes can have big consequences

Although we want the best health outcome for our patient/client, we may come across someone who is not happy with our professional services. If a patient/client claims that you caused an injury, or they lost money because of your advice or treatment, they could take legal action against you.

The law of dispute resolution (and legal processes) can be complex, and very costly. It is a game in itself. Being a member of the NHPNZ, with representatives who have skills and an understanding of the law and the legal process, is paramount in dealing with the complaints process.

As health professionals it is important to know what steps to take when a complaint is made.

The complaints process is an unfortunate experience, however, it is the way in which a health practitioner handles a complaint when it is first made, which greatly affects both the outcome and the health practitioner’s experience of the process.

Whether there is any fault on your part or not, NHPNZ would urge you to report all complaints to us early, preferably on the day they are received. All too often practitioners let us know only when they receive a legal request from one of the regulatory agencies for their patient notes having missed a golden opportunity to resolve the situation before it gets to that stage. 

The bottom line is that ignoring or ‘trying to fix’ the situation yourself is not wise.

Failure to notify the NHPNZ as soon as reasonably possible could lead to your claim being rejected by the insurer. Therefore, even if you are unsure whether it’s worthy of letting NHPNZ know or not, it’s in your best interests to do so.

There are two important preventive actions. 

First is always have clients sign, (or agree to, if you are doing remote consultations) a client disclaimer.

I hope that you all have some version of one of these and all clients sign them. There is a generic form available in our “Members Area” (in the green band top left-hand side of our home page).

The second is the Health & Disability ‘Know Your Rights’ poster that we all need to have displayed in our clinics..

Student Member: you need to be training with a “recognised training establishment” or Professional Association of NHPNZ. Complete a Student Member Insurance Application form which can be downloaded from the website. Return the Application form to the NHPNZ office.

Students must be supervised by a tutor when working with clients. This means that many of our Natural Therapies students are excluded from being members until they complete their training.

The cover is for your practice of natural healthcare and training you may provide to others as part of this practice.

If you provide training as a main part of your business or you are involved in selling products (other than as an incidental to your practice) you may need additional cover.

As long as you are a current member of a Professional Association/Training Establishment that recognises your modality/ies or have those modalities registered with NHPNZ and have paid the required premium you are covered for all of those modalities.

Please contact the Natural Health Practitioners of New Zealand Office to arrange. 

The cover runs from 1 April each year which is the renewal date of the NHPNZ insurance programme. This will be charged on a pro-rata payment if you join part way through the year.

Cover starts as soon as the NHPNZ Office receives your payment and your application has been accepted by the insurers.

You will be charged on a pro-rata payment if you join part way through the year.

Yes. You have to pay the first $1,000 of any claim or costs incurred which is called the Excess.

No. To reduce administration, which can be a large part of the insurance cost, you will only be given a Certificate of Insurance. A copy of the full policy is available for inspection at the NHPNZ office.

The Territorial and Jurisdictional limits of the Insurance policy only covers you and your practice in NZ. However, cover for short term visits to Australia can be arranged.

An additional policy and fee applies and it covers you for numerous short periods during the financial year.  Please contact the NHPNZ Office to arrange.

The insurance is provided by AIG and is arranged by “Rothbury Insurance Brokers”, the insurance adviser to the Natural Health Practitioners of New Zealand Inc.

The underwriters at AIG and our Insurance Broker, have considerable experience in arranging covers of this type and have access to a panel of specialist legal advisers to assist you with claims