Qualification Requirements

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What qualifications do I need?

Having the correct level of experience or qualifications necessary to offer a service is extremely important especially if you work in the aesthetics field which often involves invasive and risky treatments. Failure to meet the required levels could invalidate your insurance and any potential claim against you.

During the quote process you will choose the Business Practices for which you seek cover. Each of these has a ‘Definition’ attached which stipulates what the work is, if there are any specific qualifications required or if it is restricted to particular Practitioners. YOU MUST CHECK THE DEFINITION.

This is an example of the type of requirements you may find:

Acceptable practitioners are Surgeons, Doctors, Dentists, Physician Associate, Nurses, Dental Hygienists/Therapists.

If you are not suitably qualified, then you should not include the service on your policy.

Therefore, it is vital that you check the definitions of the Business Practices you are adding to your Policy. These definitions also appear on your Policy documents.

Can you tell me if I am qualified enough to be insured?

Westminster Insurance covers almost 600 different business practices, attached to which are thousands of courses, and does not involve itself in the evaluation of qualifications.

Therefore, we are unable to comment on the acceptability of any particular practitioner, training course or qualification, other than those specifically mentioned in our definitions eg Doctor or NVQ 3 Beauty.

Before offering any service, you have a responsibility to ensure that the level of training you possess meets both the insurer’s requirements (as specified in the definition) and any regulatory or industry standards/requirements. In the absence of such requirements, you must determine if the training would by ‘reasonable judgement’ be deemed to be good quality, comprehensive and appropriate. Formally accredited courses provide an important quality control measure and you should take particular care to assess the qualification of trainers, and suitability of the training in light of other training, qualifications and practical experience you have.

The insurers do not specify the acceptance or exclusion of online training which may be used as part or full delivery of a course. For some services, this may be totally suitable but for others, particularly where a practical skill is involved it is likely to be inadequate. However, once again the high degree of variables (previous experience/training/qualifications, the inclusion of one-to-one visually connected training and assessments of practical elements, etc) means that it is not something the insurers can specify.

What if qualifications are not required in my field of work?

There are some Business Practices for which there are no commonly recognised formal qualifications available. You may have learned the skill through short courses, workshops, on the job training or individual tuition. In this case it is your knowledge and experience that are more relevant.

What evidence do I need to send to you?

We do not request any proof of your qualifications or experience prior to issuing you with a quote or insurance. However, you will need to confirm the following Statement and in doing so you are declaring that you have checked the definitions and meet the requirements. This is a serious matter and should be considered as such.

When are my experience and/or qualifications checked?

Whether or not you are adequately experienced or qualified in the services you offer comes under investigation at the point of any potential claim. If it is found that you do not meet the requirements and have falsified your Statement the insurers have the right to decline the claim.