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Allied health professionals
Yes. Every practising speech and language therapist must have a professional indemnity arrangement as a condition of HCPC registration. Employed SLTs are usually covered by their employer, and RCSLT says some membership categories include PI and medical malpractice cover. If you work independently, check that your cover reaches treatment risk, such as swallowing advice, as well as reports and advice, because PI written for advice work commonly excludes injury caused by treatment.
Part of: Professional indemnity for consultants
In short
Under article 11A of the Health Professions Order 2001, every practising HCPC registrant must have an indemnity arrangement that gives appropriate cover for the risks of their practice, and self-employed or independent SLTs must make their own. “Speech and language therapist” and “speech therapist” are protected titles. In independent practice the main risks are treatment injuries, especially from dysphagia advice, reports used in EHC plans and SEND Tribunal appeals, and telehealth. Because PI wordings for advice work commonly exclude injury and treatment, an SLT’s insurance should include treatment risk cover, which RCSLT’s membership page calls medical malpractice cover, together with PI and public liability.
Last reviewed 5 October 2026 by the Apex professional indemnity team.
A speech and language therapist’s work falls into two kinds of risk, and they need different cover.
Public liability is a third, separate need: a parent who trips over equipment in your clinic, or damage you cause in a client’s home. Public liability wordings commonly carve out injuries that flow from treatment or advice, so it does not fill the malpractice gap either.
Employed SLTs usually rely on their employer’s arrangements. Once you see private clients, contract with schools or set up a practice, the HCPC expects you to arrange your own cover, and the question becomes whether it reaches every part of what you do.
These five cases are illustrative, made up to show where an independent SLT is exposed. None is a real claim.
The first two are treatment claims and need malpractice cover. The last three are advice, report and data claims, which sit with PI and, for the data breach, possibly cyber cover.
Speech and language therapy is a regulated profession, and PI is a legal requirement, not just a contract term.
| Source | What it says | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Health Professions Order 2001, art. 11A | Every practising registrant must have an indemnity arrangement providing appropriate cover, meaning cover appropriate to the nature and extent of the risks of their practice. It can be insurance, another indemnity arrangement, or both. In force since 17 July 2014. | The legal basis for the HCPC requirement. “Appropriate” depends on what you actually do. |
| HCPC guidance on professional indemnity | An indemnity arrangement is a condition of registration, confirmed by declaration. Self-employed SLTs and those in independent practice must make their own arrangements, and should contact their insurer if their scope of practice changes. | Adding dysphagia, telehealth or tribunal work is a change of scope to tell your insurer about. |
| HCPC protected titles | “Speech and language therapist” and “speech therapist” are protected by law. You must be on the HCPC Register to use them. | Check how assistants and unregistered staff in your practice describe themselves. |
| RCSLT membership | RCSLT says professional indemnity insurance and medical malpractice cover is included for Certified, Newly Qualified – Practising, Returner, Student, Overseas Qualified – Practising and Assistant members, and that Non-Practising and Retired members are covered for their period of practice. | Many SLTs rely on this. Check its terms against your contracts and your business structure. |
| ASLTIP Code of Conduct 2026 | Members must hold appropriate professional registrations and insurance, which is essential for membership, and must obtain informed consent for recording and digital communication. | Independent practice brings expectations on insurance, records and data as well as clinical care. |
| Usually covered by PI | Often excluded or limited | Needs a different policy |
|---|---|---|
| Negligent assessment reports, EHC plan advice and tribunal evidence | Bodily injury from treatment, unless the policy includes medical malpractice | Choking, aspiration or other injury from treatment (medical malpractice cover) |
| Errors in therapy programmes delivered by schools or carers | Work outside the scope you declared, such as new dysphagia or telehealth services | A visitor injured at your clinic (public liability) |
| Breach of confidentiality | Fines and penalties | A cyber attack on your clinical records system (cyber) |
| Defence costs and expert evidence | Clients outside the policy’s territorial limits | Injury to your own staff (employers’ liability) |
| Representation at HCPC fitness to practise hearings, where included | Claims arising from contract penalties you agreed to | Damage to assessment kits and laptops (equipment cover) |
What a policy pays depends on its wording and on the insurer accepting your proposal. Wordings built for allied health professionals often bundle PI, malpractice and public liability, which closes the gaps between them.
Independent SLTs are often asked by parents for reports to support an EHC needs assessment, a review or a SEND Tribunal appeal. These reports carry weight because of where speech and language therapy sits in the SEND system.
The SEND Code of Practice says speech and language therapy can be education or health provision, or both, but because communication is so fundamental in education, addressing speech and language impairment should normally be recorded as special educational provision unless there are exceptional reasons not to. Provision in Section F of an EHC plan must be detailed and specific and should normally be quantified, for example by type, hours, frequency and level of expertise.
That makes your report the evidence that turns a need into enforceable provision, and it explains the claims risk:
Make sure your policy describes medico-legal and tribunal report work, not just therapy, and keep the assessment record behind every recommendation.
Swallowing work is where an SLT’s advice most directly affects physical safety. Your recommendation is usually carried out by someone else, such as care staff, a family or a school, so claims often turn on whether your plan was clear, current and suitable for the people delivering it.
Telehealth adds its own questions. Can you assess safely without being in the room, and is someone present to help? Have you obtained informed consent for recording, as ASLTIP’s code expects? And where is the client? PI policies set territorial and jurisdiction limits, and a client who has moved abroad may fall outside them, so declare any overseas clients before you treat them.
The law sets the standard rather than the figure: cover must be appropriate to the nature and extent of the risks of your practice. In practice NHS trusts, local authorities, academy trusts and case managers set minimum limits in their contracts. If you rely on professional body cover, check that its limit and terms meet each contract, and that it covers the company you trade through and anyone who works for you.
Paediatric work brings a long tail. In England and Wales, the Limitation Act 1980 treats a child as under a disability, and a personal injury claim for a child can usually be brought up to three years after they reach adulthood. A claim about therapy given to a four-year-old can therefore arrive many years later.
Both PI and malpractice cover are commonly sold on a claims-made basis: what matters is the policy you hold on the day a family’s solicitor writes to you, not the one you held when you saw the child. Keep cover continuous when you move between employment, independent practice and professional body schemes, and arrange run-off cover if you close a practice. RCSLT says its Non-Practising and Retired members are covered for their period of practice, so check how that applies before you change your membership.
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Apex Insurance Brokers is an independent insurance broker based in Bristol, established in 2009 and authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. We are not tied to one insurer: we work with over 30 markets, including Lloyd’s syndicates through wholesale brokers, and every client has a named broker who handles the placement, mid-term changes, certificates for clients and the renewal.
Yes. Every practising SLT must have an indemnity arrangement as a condition of HCPC registration. Employed SLTs are usually covered by their employer, but independent and self-employed SLTs must make their own arrangements, and the cover should include treatment risk such as dysphagia work as well as advice and reports.
Yes. Article 11A of the Health Professions Order 2001 requires every practising HCPC registrant to have an indemnity arrangement giving appropriate cover for the nature and extent of the risks of their practice. The HCPC makes it a condition of registration. It can be met through an employer, a professional body or your own insurance.
RCSLT says professional indemnity insurance and medical malpractice cover is included for several membership categories, including Certified members. Before relying on it, check the scheme’s terms against your work: the limit your contracts require, whether it covers a limited company and people who work for you, and any services outside speech and language therapy.
Not if it is a general PI policy that excludes bodily injury. A choking or aspiration claim is a treatment injury claim and needs medical malpractice cover, which RCSLT itself describes as part of its members’ insurance. Check that your policy names dysphagia work, subject to its terms.
Not necessarily. Policies set territorial and jurisdiction limits, and a client living outside the UK may fall outside them even if you are in the UK. Declare overseas clients before you start, and get informed consent for any recording, as the ASLTIP code expects.
Only if the policy covers report and medico-legal work, so declare it. These reports matter because the SEND Code of Practice says speech and language therapy should normally be recorded as special educational provision, and provision must be detailed, specific and normally quantified.
Apex arranges professional indemnity insurance for speech and language therapists across the UK. Tell us about your work and we’ll find cover that fits. Or call 0117 325 0027.
Start your PI proposal Call 0117 325 0027Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information, not advice on your individual circumstances. Cover is always subject to the insurer’s acceptance and the policy terms, and this page does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.
