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The Limitations to Your Employer Liability Insurance

When your employee is injured or ill due to mishaps at the workplace, the chances of your business getting sued are significant.

With the rising awareness regarding employee rights and the power of social media, employees aren’t afraid to take action and accuse their employers of negligence and damage. This is why businesses need employer liability insurance to protect them from such claims.

What is Employers Liability Insurance?

The insurance policy handles and covers claims of employees who have sustained a work-related illness or physical injury that isn’t covered by workers’ compensation insurance. Besides worker’s compensation, workers can easily sue their employers for additional damages. However, having employer liability insurance protects you from such claims.

Employer liability insurance is typically treated as an extension of workers’ compensation insurance and is commonly referred to as “part 2” of the latter.

Difference between Workers’ Compensation and Employer Liability Insurance

When we talk about workers’ compensation, it mainly deals with covering all the medical costs and lost income for the injured or ill employee.

On the other hand, employer liability insurance covers all legal costs and safeguards your business against legal liabilities if your employee sues you for extra damages.

Here’s Why You Need Employers Liability Insurance

Millions of employees are injured yearly or develop illness due to work-related activities.

While injuries are higher at jobs involving a lot of traveling, heavy lifting, or harsh working conditions, it can happen to any employee. Here are some examples to help you understand:

A secretary gets diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome due to excessive typing
A construction worker falls from a high ladder and breaks their leg
A worker at a chemical plant gets lung cancer due to exposure to harmful gases

Most states have made it mandatory for employers to purchase worker’s compensation insurance, including employer’s liability. The former covers all the medical costs, lost income, rehabilitation, and funeral expenditures, and the latter deals with other damages that an employee might be liable for.

What Does Employers’ Liability Insurance Cover?

Third-Party Claims: These are lawsuits filed against another business entity that may be involved in an accident or mishap at the workplace.

Loss of Consortium: Grieving family members of the deceased employee may file for compensation for their loss.

Consequential Bodily Harm: This lawsuit is filed by a person who is not your employee but a relative of theirs, like a spouse, who is diagnosed with an illness due to the injured or ill employee.

Dual Capacity: In case a worker sues their establishment in two roles: as an employer and manufacturer.

Employers Liability Limits

While it does offer broad coverage, not everything comes under the umbrella of an employer’s liability. Exclusions are mentioned below:

Intentional acts
The liability accepted under an agreement
Illegally employed workers

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