Personal Insurance
Business Insurance
Industry
Insurance by Industry
NDIS insurance looks very different for a sole trader support worker than for a registered provider running group homes or a transport service. If you drive participants in your own car, check that your motor policy allows business use. Registered providers, and those seeking registration, will be asked at audit to show the right policies are current. Fortis Risk Solutions compares public liability and professional indemnity wordings across insurers and checks exclusions that catch disability providers out, such as personal care, medication support and behaviour support. When a participant or plan manager asks for a certificate of currency, we send it. List the supports you deliver and who works with you, then call 03 7046 3766 or send an enquiry.
What NDIS Insurance Covers
NDIS insurance covers the liability, professional indemnity, personal accident and property risks of businesses delivering supports to NDIS participants, from sole trader support workers to registered provider organisations. It is a set of policies matched to the supports you deliver. A cleaner and a support coordinator carry very different risks, and the policy should reflect that.
Most claims start on an ordinary working day. A participant falls during a transfer or on a community outing. A support worker breaks something in a client's home. A support coordinator's advice is said to have cost a participant money. A worker hurts their back lifting a client and cannot earn for two months. Plan details and case notes sit on a laptop that gets stolen from a car.
Registered providers are audited against the NDIS Practice Standards, which expect appropriate insurance to be in place, including professional indemnity insurance and accident insurance. Public liability insurance is named in the same standard. Unregistered providers sit outside the audit, but participants, support coordinators and organisations that subcontract work commonly ask for a certificate of currency before the first shift.
Fortis Risk Solutions arranges NDIS insurance as part of our business insurance range from offices in Box Hill and Hawthorn. We start with your registration groups or service list, your staff and contractors, and whether you transport participants. Allied health clinics that see NDIS participants alongside private patients usually sit better under medical practice insurance, with the NDIS work declared on that policy.
Who this covers
Businesses in this group include:
- Registered NDIS providers
- Unregistered providers working with self-managed and plan-managed participants
- Support coordination
- Sole trader support workers
- Allied health providers delivering NDIS supports
- Transport and community access providers
If your business is not listed, ask us. The sections below are the starting point for any business in the group.
NDIS Provider Insurance: Cover Sections and Benefits
Related Client Case Studies
Cases from the Fortis Risk Solutions broking team. Client names have been removed.
Client case: Unfair Employment Dismissal
The client situation: Our client, a faith organisation, had concerns regarding a staff member’s conduct following a complaint by another staff member alleging inappropriate conduct and concerns about professional boundaries and compliance with the organisation’s Safety Policy. An external investigation engaged by the organisation was undertaken, and management subsequently considered a number of performance and conduct issues. Following a formal meeting, management reached the decision to terminate the staff member’s employment.
After the employment ended, the former employee lodged an unfair dismissal application with the Fair Work Commission and made settlement demands through his legal representative. Our client also sought legal advice and made a counter offer to the former employee. They then notified FRS and asked whether a claim could be lodged under their Management Liability insurance.
After a conciliation, the dispute was ultimately resolved through a settlement of approximately $15,000, with the organisation also incurring $5,500 in legal costs.How the policy responded: Our client’s policy responded under Employment Practices Liability, covering the $15,000 settlement and $5,500 in legal costs. After the $5,000 policy excess, the insurer reimbursed approximately $15,500.
This type of claim would typically be considered under the Employment Practices Liability section of Management Liability. Subject to the insurer accepting the claim and the policy terms, the cover can respond to legal and defence costs incurred in responding to and defending the unfair dismissal proceedings, as well as certain settlements or compensation if covered by the policy.How Fortis Risk Solutions helps: Employment claims are easy to miss because nothing is damaged. We make sure Employment Practices Liability is part of the management liability policy, and when a letter arrives we lodge the claim and deal with the insurer for you.
Every policy is different and the outcome of a claim depends on its terms. As your broker, Fortis Risk Solutions compares insurers and policy wording before you buy, and lodges and manages the claim for you when something happens. Talk to us about your own cover.
NDIS Insurance FAQs
Yes, registered providers are expected to hold appropriate insurance. The NDIS Practice Standards list professional indemnity, public liability and accident insurance under risk management, and auditors look for evidence of that cover. Limits are worked out from your supports, your contracts and the participants you work with. Unregistered providers are not audited, but the same risks apply to their work.
It is usually public liability plus personal accident and illness cover, with professional indemnity added if you give advice or plan supports. A sole trader generally has no workers compensation, so personal accident cover replaces part of your income if an injury or illness stops you working. If you work from home, a small business insurance package can cover your laptop and equipment.
Yes, under the public liability section, if the injury is caused by your negligence during a support. That includes a fall during a transfer or an accident on a community outing. Injury said to come from your professional advice or a therapy program falls under professional indemnity instead. Many standard liability policies exclude abuse claims, so check whether your wording includes them.
Not automatically. A private car policy may exclude business use or carrying people for payment, so tell your insurer that you transport participants. A policy written as business car insurance covers the vehicle and damage to other people's property while you work. In Victoria, injuries from a transport accident are handled by the TAC through registration, so the motor policy deals with vehicles and property.
Providers with premises, staff or a vehicle fleet usually do. Business interruption insurance pays lost income and ongoing costs such as rent and wages after an insured event like a fire at your office. It does not respond to losing participants, funding changes or a registration problem. For most sole traders, personal accident cover is the more useful protection for income.
Policies for disability services differ on abuse claims, participant transport, sleepovers and advice. As your broker, FRS helps you disclose your supports and registration groups accurately, structure limits for your contracts and audit, compare the insurers that specialise in disability services and act as your advocate at claim time. We are not one of the NDIS insurance providers ourselves: we work for you, not the insurer.
The answer changes with your registration groups and the supports you deliver. A sole trader support worker usually needs public liability for participant injury and some way to replace income if they cannot work. A provider giving therapy or advice also needs professional indemnity. Two details are easy to miss: whether the policy responds to abuse allegations, and whether transporting participants in your own car is covered by your motor policy. We work through these with providers before going to market.
Talk to a broker about NDIS Provider Insurance
Call 03 7046 3766 on weekdays between 9:30am and 6pm, email admin@fortisrisksolutions.com.au, or send an enquiry and a broker from our Box Hill or Hawthorn office will come back to you about NDIS provider insurance. Tell us what the business does and what the lease or contract asks for, and we take it from there.