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.