Employers’ Liability
I recently attended a class on workers’ compensation and learned some interesting facts I thought I would share. Did you know workers’ compensation, or workers comp, is one of the earliest forms of insurance and dates back to the 18th century? It was started by pirates. Pirates were considered allies of some governments and as you can imagine they were often injured while “working” attacking ships, and a system was started to compensate the pirates if they were injured.
Today workers’ compensation operates in a similar fashion. If you are injured while working, workers’ comp will pay for medical expenses and lost wages. However, there are some gaps, and that is where employers’ liability coverage comes in. Employers’ liability protects the employer against claims that are not covered by workers’ comp. Some of the common exclusions in workers’ comp coverage are as follows:
- Intentional acts/torts by the employer
- Third-Party cross claims
- Dual capacity claims
- Diseases or injuries excluded by the states workers comp statues
- Consortium and other loss of services to a family member
Employers’ liability typically has a limit for bodily injury by accident with a per accident limit, bodily injury by disease with a policy limit, and bodily injury by disease per employee. Workers’ comp doesn’t have limits specifically stated. Even though employers’ liability claims are not nearly as common as workers comp claims, it is important for business owners to fully understand the coverage to protect their business.
SOURCE:
*Certified Authority on Workers’ Compensation written by Accident Fund Group and Olivet College