Insurance broker Crombie Lockwood has partnered with CMI Optical to offer New Zealand practices and optometry supply businesses a lower-cost, optometry-specific insurance policy.
To his knowledge there is no other industry insurance package designed solely for the optometry industry, said CMI Optical director Brad Boult. The partnership’s national insurance model exploits economies of scale to offer practices an average saving of 25% on existing insurance policies, he said. Cover is specifically tailored to optometrists, with CMI having played a key part in advising Crombie Lockwood about equipment failure, financial losses arising from business interruptions and professional indemnity.
“Professional indemnity is an important aspect of the package,” said Boult. “It covers all staff in the practice, not just optometrists and dispensing opticians. From an insurance perspective, making a mistake when working with a patient’s eyes can have a devastating effect and potentially lead to costly litigation against the individual optometrist as well as the practice itself. This is by far the largest exposure that an optometrist faces, so we wanted to ensure that each practice knows our insurance programme has them covered for what matters most.”
The package is available now, with Chris Bull, business development manager at Crombie Lockwood, providing quotes to practices. “While Chris doesn’t have an optometry background, he does have 22 years of experience in the insurance industry and specialises in negotiating and implementing national facilities. His working knowledge of the optometry industry, along with my professional input, ensures that the scope of cover matches the operational risks that an optometrist faces on a daily basis,” said Boult, adding that policy holders can also access a dedicated service team based in Auckland.
