Insurance Requirements – BOTOX® and Dermal Fillers Training

Do I need insurance when I’m training in BOTOX® and dermal fillers?

by Lee Cottrill, Business Development Director

“Many of our training delegates ask us when they’re booking their injectables training course if they need their own facial aesthetics insurance policy in place ready for when they come to do their training.

“This is a sensible question to ask in preparation for the start of your new venture into aesthetics because obviously all practitioners will want to avoid any potential claim against them, especially a claim where you subsequently find out you have no insurance when you need it.

“If you’re new to aesthetics then the answer is that you’ll need to be covered under the training centre’s insurance policy until such point that you’ve completed sufficient training for you to start injecting your own patients. This is because as a beginner in facial injectables, you won’t be eligible for specialist aesthetics insurance until you’ve carried out your basic training. How much training you need to complete for ‘basic training’ can be a bit of a grey area. Largely, this is because the UK aesthetics market is a young market (forgive the pun) with a woeful lack of regulation and as such, definitions of what’s acceptable in training, widely range. Training companies typically offer 1-day courses which vary widely in quality and it can sometimes feel like ‘attendance certificates’ are given out like sweeties. Things are getting better however with the advent of the Level 7 Certificate in Injectables for Aesthetic Medicine (an OfQual accredited qualification) and also more training companies assessing against a list of recognised competencies for what constitutes an appropriate sign-off of a delegate’s learning.

“As a general rule of thumb however, you can expect your cover to be valid if you’ve had practical hands-on training for the procedure for which you want your cover. So whether BOTOX® is covered by insurance for sweating will depend on if you’ve injected any patients in training for sweating. A similar example would be getting BOTOX® insurance coverage for migraines is only going to happen if you’ve had appropriate training of injecting real models under supervision for patients exhibiting symptoms for migraine which might be appropriate to treat with botulinum toxin.

“As such, it’s really important that you check with the training centre you intend to book with to ensure that they have an insurance policy in place which has teaching documented as an endorsement to their policy. Having the teaching endorsement on an aesthetics insurance policy means that students who come to train will be covered (subject to the terms of that policy) on the training centre’s policy for things like professional indemnity and public. Obviously, it’s important I state at this point that we can in no way make a recommendation for specific aesthetic insurance policies and that you must always make sure you understand the terms of your cover.

“Once you’ve completed your training session (e.g. Foundation BOTOX® and Dermal Filler course), it’s at that point that you should arrange to get your aesthetics professional indemnity insurance in place before you start injecting in your own aesthetics business. The key point for when to have your insurance lined up is the point at which you’re ready to start treating patients. Ideally, once you’ve completed your training course you should aim to get injecting straight away in order to cement the knowledge of what you’ve learned on the course. Therefore, the best way to remember to get everything in place in time for your first BOTOX® patient is to book your insurance as soon as you finish your first training course. That way you can rest easy that you’ve done everything possible to protect yourself in the event of a complication or adverse reaction where a claim is brought against you.

“If you decide to do some training or work under supervision with a freelance trainer (as opposed to well-known aesthetics training school) then the most important thing to do is check that your clinical supervisor (or mentor) has got the teaching endorsement on his/her policy. If your supervisor doesn’t have that and you don’t have your own policy then chances are you’re putting yourself at risk and won’t be protected in the event of a claim. An aesthetics trainer that works for an established training company should have the required cover in place so that you won’t need your own policy until the point at which you’ve completed some of your training and have received a training certificate.

“It goes without saying, never to carry out any aesthetics treatments that are outside the scope of your training but also never carry out treatments that you or your trainer aren’t insured to deliver.

Once you progress to carrying out treatments yourself, whether you’re employed by a clinic or self-employed also makes a difference to your insurance requirements. If you work for yourself as an aesthetics practitioner then you need your own insurance coverage for BOTOX® and dermal fillers. If you work for a clinic but are self-employed then you’ll again need to ensure you have a policy in place (because the patient will bring the claim against you). If however you work for a clinic and are employed by them then it’s the clinic as your employer who is responsible for putting in place adequate insurance cover for the aesthetics procedures being carried out.”

“Two of the biggest specialist aesthetics students insurance brokers in the UK are Cosmetic Insure and Hamilton Fraser. It’s always worth mentioning that you heard about them from SkinViva Training in case they’re running a referral offer which gets you money off.”

Lee Cottrill, Business Development Director

Lee Cottrill has worked with SkinViva since 2011 following 10 years in various private and public sector organisations. He was a key part of the team that developed and launched SkinViva Training in 2013 and is now very involved in professional side of the industry, working closely with the new JCCP.

Lee specialises in business change and project management and has provided independent consultancy to a range of clients across sectors including banking, healthcare, and legal services.

SkinViva Training Academy Manchester

SkinViva Training Ltd offer a range of professional training courses for cosmetic and medical skin treatments.

Their courses in cosmetic treatments directed at suitably qualified and registered medical professionals who wish to learn and build on their skills in delivering these procedures.

See our full list of forthcoming training course dates.

SkinViva Training Academy was established in 2013 by Dr Tim Pearce MBChB BSc (Hons) MRCGP – learn more about us. The SkinViva Training Academy team upholds high standards of clinical training providing a combination of fully-supervised practical experience together with essential theory.

For further information, to discuss which course is right for you, to enquire about availability or to book a training course please call 0161 850 2491, or email info@skinvivatraining.com.