FAQs for Professional Liability Insurance

I have professional liability insurance purchased from the United States, will this meet the College’s requirement?

Registrants must have professional liability insurance coverage that meets the requirements of the College as listed in the Bylaws. If your insurance coverage is purchased outside of Canada, for example USA, please ensure that the coverage territory under your policy includes Canada (your policy must cover claims that may be made in British Columbia) and that you inform your clients of any territorial limits to coverage in your policy.

What are the Professional Liability Insurance requirements?

All practising registrants of the College must maintain professional liability insurance to ensure that their practice is appropriately covered and that the public is protected in the event of a claim.

This requirement is set out in section 82 of the Bylaws and applies to all practising registrants, regardless of practice setting (public or private) or employment status, and extends to all social work practice undertaken by a registrant, whether paid, voluntary or otherwise.

According to the BCCSW Bylaws,

(1) All full registrants, clinical registrants, provisional registrants and temporary registrants must obtain and at all times maintain professional liability insurance in an amount of at least $3,000,000 per occurrence.

(2)Insurance obtained by a registrant further to subsections (1) must

(a)be in a form that is satisfactory to the college, and

(b)apply to any non-registrant who assists the registrant in providing social work or clinical social work services to clients.

Please note that this is the minimum professional liability insurance required under the bylaws. Depending on a registrant’s individual circumstances, a higher level of coverage and/or additional types of insurance may be required. Registrants are responsible for assessing their specific practice context and determining whether further insurance is necessary beyond the minimum requirement.

Am I required to have professional liability insurance?

All full, clinical, provisional, and temporary registrants of the College are required to obtain and at all times maintain professional liability insurance coverage.

Please note this requirement arises out of the registration status as listed above and is not based on employment status or job role.

Where can I obtain professional liability insurance?

Professional liability insurance can be obtained through:

the CASW Liability Insurance Program offered through the BC Association of Social Workers for its members; https://www.bcasw.org/benefits-of-membership/insurance-programs
employer provided insurance coverage (please confirm with your employer that the coverage meets the regulatory requirements);
various insurance providers or brokers such as:

Zensurance – https://www.zensurance.com/social-worker-insurance
AON Insurance – https://www.aon.com/canada/ccli/index

While the College may make a list of providers available as a resource, it does not endorse, recommend or provide advice regarding any specific insurer or policy. Registrants are responsible for conducting their own due diligence to ensure that any insurance obtained meets the requirements set out in the Bylaws and their particular circumstances.

I am a registrant, but I am currently on a break or leave of absence from social work practice. Do I need to maintain insurance?

Yes. The professional liability insurance requirement applies even if you not actively engaged in practice or you are on a leave of absence from your work but have maintained your active registration status. While maintaining professional liability insurance is not required for registrants in the non-practising class, you are advised to consult your insurance provider to clarify how claims arising from your social work practice during your prior period of active registration may be handled.

My employer provides professional liability insurance, can I use this coverage to satisfy the College’s requirements?

Employer-provided insurance may be used to meet the College’s professional liability insurance requirement, provided that the policy:

offers coverage for you personally, of at least $3,000,000 per occurrence, and the funds are not shared with the organization and other employees, that is, the individual coverage to you of $3,000,000 must not be limited by the amount of the group policy insurance;
explicitly covers you as an individual registrant for the social work or clinical social work services you provide; and

covers any non-registrant who assists you (the registrant) in providing social work or clinical social work services to clients.

However, there are two key exceptions that you must also consider:

As the insurance policy is owned by the employer, the insurance policy will likely not cover you for any work done outside of your employment relationship such as engaging in private practice on the side (“moonlighting”) or volunteering, so you must not moonlight or volunteer in a professional capacity without independently purchasing professional liability insurance.
The distinction between an employee and an independent contractor is subtle and you may need legal advice on this question. If you are an independent contractor, any insurance policy purchased by the organization with whom you contract may not cover you, meaning that you must purchase independently purchase professional liability insurance.

It is your responsibility to confirm that the employer’s policy meets these criteria. If the above criteria are not met, or if there is any uncertainty, you must obtain individual coverage to ensure compliance with section 82 of the Bylaws.

I work in a healthcare setting, and my employer has professional liability insurance coverage through the BC Health Care Protection Program. Do I still need to obtain individual insurance?

The Health Care Protection Program (HCPP) only covers professionals who are employed by one of the Health Care Agencies (HCAs) covered by HCPP, while working within their scope or terms of their employment for the HCA. If you work for an employer (HCA) who is listed under the Memorandum of Coverage under the BC Health Care Protection Program and are claiming this coverage to satisfy the regulatory requirements, you may be required to also submit verification of employment as part of any audit processes.

It is important to note that coverage under the HCPP is limited to matters arising within a registrant’s scope of employment with an HCA covered by HCPP. HCPP coverage does not extend to private practice, work with private agencies, or volunteer or independent activities, undertaken outside of your employment with a HCPP covered HCA.

Coverage is also not available for claims against HCA employees when they are acting in a capacity as an employer, or a business entity such as an incorporated company or partnership.

I am a federal employee covered by the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) Policy on Legal Assistance and Indemnification; do I need to obtain individual professional liability insurance?

Yes. The Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) Policy on Legal Assistance and Indemnification (the “TBS Policy”) applies to certain employees of the federal government. While the TBS Policy appears to meet some of the essential elements of bylaw 82, the TBS Policy does not satisfy bylaw 82 as it is not “insurance”, it is merely a policy of the federal government which can be changed at any time.

I am employed by the Provincial government in a Management position (excluded employee), do I need to obtain individual professional liability insurance?

Yes. The provincial law is found in the Financial Administration Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 138, the Excluded Employees Indemnity Protection Regulation, B.C. Reg. 72/2012 [issued pursuant to the Public Service Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 385] and the Excluded Employees (Legal Proceedings) Indemnity Regulation, B.C. Reg. 162/2022 (collectively, the “Provincial Legislative Scheme”).

The Provincial Legislative scheme is insufficient to meet bylaw 82. The Provincial Legislative Scheme is not an “insurance policy” as required by bylaw 82.

The protection for management employees in the Provincial Legislative Scheme is somewhat comparable to a private PLI policy as the legislative scheme would pay damages to the public for the acts or omissions of a management-level social worker employed by the provincial government (if the management-level social worker’s conduct was not dishonest, malicious or otherwise in bad faith).

However, Bylaw 82 also requires the purchase of a PLI policy which would “apply to any non-registrant who assists the registrant in providing social work or clinical social work services to clients.” A non-registrant assistant would presumably not be in a management position in government and would therefore not be covered under the Provincial Legislative Scheme.

I work in a unionized position and am covered by a collective agreement that provides indemnity through my employer, do I need to obtain individual professional liability insurance?

Yes. Provisions in collective agreements such as the BCGEU or HSPBA Collective Agreements cannot satisfy bylaw 82 as it is not insurance. Rather, the collective agreements are contracts which can be changed by agreement of the union members and the employer. Further, there are no provisions in these collective agreements to cover a former employee (as there is with a PLI policy if it is an occurrence policy, or if the insured purchases extended tail coverage for a claims-made policy).

In addition, the only way that the provisions in these collective agreements would apply to any non-registrant who assists the registrant, would be if the assistant is also covered by the same collective agreement.