DPAS is a UK leader in providing cost-effective, independent, practice-branded dental plans.
Effective planning for your practice and your patients
Supplementary Insurance
Supplementary Insurance is automatically included within the dental plans available from DPAS. As the name suggests, the insurance is an additional benefit over and above the services available to the plan subscriber from the dental practice as part of the plan. The Supplementary Insurance is included on a non-selective basis for all plan patients and is thus a mandatory feature. Quite apart from the peace of mind that the Supplementary Insurance provides, its automatic inclusion within a plan means that the cover is provided in the most cost effective manner resulting in premium savings for the patient.
Scope of Cover
The Supplementary Insurance provides cover for costs incurred for temporary dental treatment as a result of a dental emergency when away from home or abroad, and cover towards the cost of permanent dental treatment following a dental injury. It also provides for the payment of out-of-hours fees when dentists are required to open their dental surgery to treat a patient in an emergency. There is also a hospital cash benefit payable when a patient is under the care of a dental or oral/maxillo facial surgeon and a cash benefit payable following the diagnosis of mouth cancer.
Premium and Duration
The Supplementary Insurance is a monthly contract, which continues for as long as the patient continues to pay monthly premiums. The monthly premium payable is incorporated within the monthly fee paid by the patient to be a member of the dental plan.
Administration
The Supplementary Insurance is administered by DPAS Ltd as agents for the underwriters ACE European Group Limited (ACE). Both DPAS and ACE are regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA). ACE (and its predecessor company CIGNA International) has more years of experience of underwriting dental accident and emergency insurance than any other underwriter operating in the United Kingdom.
The Supplementary Insurance may be cancelled by the patient within 14 days of receiving the policy document should it be decided that the insurance does not meet his/her requirements. Upon return of the policy document to DPAS a full refund of any premium paid will be allowed, provided no claims have been made. As the Supplementary Insurance is an integral part of the dental plan, cancellation of the insurance will automatically cancel the patients’ membership of the dental plan.
Claims are handled by the Insurance Department of DPAS on behalf of the Supplementary Insurance underwriters, ACE European Group Limited. The claims process is made as simple and efficient as possible, and is designed to facilitate the provision of approved dental treatment promptly. Claim Forms are available from either DPAS or the practice.
Levels of Cover, Terms and Conditions
There are two levels of cover to choose from - Level A and Level B, where Level B has treatment limits approximately 25% higher than those of Level A. It is for the practice to decide the level of cover it wishes to make available to dental plan patients. This decision will largely be based on treatment charges levied by dental practices in the immediate locality, always remembering that the treatment may not necessarily be provided by the practice offering the plan. Once the choice is made by the practice, all plan patients receive the same level of cover. For full details of the treatment limits, exclusions, terms and conditions of the Supplementary Insurance Levels A and B please click on the links below.
Level A (pdf 561kb)
Level B (pdf 182kb)
Insurance Regulation
Discussions held by DPAS with the FSA have determined that practices including Supplementary Insurance as a mandatory feature of their dental plans do not need to register with or be authorised or regulated by the FSA. DPAS will work with practices to make sure that the Supplementary Insurance is operated by the practice in the correct manner and that all FSA compliance guidelines are followed. Patients who are automatically covered by the Supplementary Insurance are considered to be Retail Customers of ACE for the purposes of FSA regulation. In all dealings with those patients DPAS and ACE will embrace all of the requirements of the FSA initiatives for “Treating Customers Fairly”.