Worker’s Compensation & Employer’s Liability Insurance

THE WORKER’S COMPENSATION SYSTEM adds the costs of occupational injury and disease to the employer’s cost of doing business so consumers pay for them as a part of the costs of the goods and services they buy and so injured employees don’t need to rely on lawsuits, welfare, or charity!

Workers’ Compensation (WC) & Employer’s Liability (EL) Insurance — covers employers’ statutory liability exposures arising from coverage required under workers’ compensation laws and employee claims not covered by workers’ compensation laws.

PERSONS AND EMPLOYMENTS COVERED — One goal of WC laws is to cover as many workers as possible.

  • Some laws exempt farm, domestic, and casual labor.
  • Some state workers are covered under separate state plans.
  • Federal workers are covered under federal plans.
  • Railroad, maritime, and ship workers are covered under their own separate plans.

Eligibility for benefits is limited to employees, not independent contractors!

  • However, courts define employee to include independent contractors whenever possible.

Firms that hire independent contractors with no WC insurance for their employees become liable for the contractor’s employees’ WC claims!

  • Leased employees are co-employees of the supplying firm and the employing firm.
  • Temporary workers are employees of the supplying firm.

Workers who travel outside their states of employment may be covered under the laws of the states where they live, where their accidents occurred, where they normally work, or where they were hired–depending on the wording of the laws of those various states. Chose the state with the most benefits!

  • US workers in foreign countries are covered up to the time limit specified in their state of employment’s WC laws.
  • Foreign voluntary WC coverage provides ‘home state’ coverage without a time limit to US employees working in foreign countries.

{The United States Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act} (LHWCA) — provides an exclusive remedy to injured workers engaged in longshoring or shipbuilding.

The Jones Act — permits injured crewmembers of vessels to sue their employers for injuries caused by their employers’ negligence.

The federal Employers’ Liability Act — permits injured interstate railroad workers to sue their employers for injuries caused by employer negligence.

THE NEED FOR AND EFFECT OF THE MAJOR WC ENDORSEMENTS:

  • THE VOLUNTARY COMPENSATION ENDORSEMENT requires the insurer to pay an amount equal to the WC benefits to employees the employer voluntarily chooses to insure but is not required by law to insure-­ farm, domestic, and casual laborers.
  • THE US LONGSHOREMEN’S AND HARBOR WORKERS’ ENDORSEMENT provides generous USL+HW Act coverage to employees who build ships, whose employer is involved in maritime activities, and who are injured near navigable water.
  • THE PARTNERS OFFICERS AND OTHERS & THE DESIGNATED WORKPLACES EXCLUSION ENDORSEMENTS exclude coverage for those who may elect not to be covered and for jobs and locations that may legally be excluded from coverage.
  • THE ANNIVERSARY RATING DATE ENDORSEMENT is used when coverage has changed midterm,promotes statistical uniformity, and facilitates experience rating by rating based on original anniversary, not on actual policy effective dates.
  • THE PREMIUM DISCOUNT ENDORSEMENT shows the volume discounts that apply when the annual premium exceeds $5,000 ($1,000 in some states).

To meet the challenge of providing Workers’ Compensation Insurance to our clients:

We have contracted with the leading and most aggressive markets writing Workers’ Compensation Insurance.

We have access to many more companies through our strategic relationships with top Workers’ Compensation Insurance wholesale agencies.

Our goal is to keep and or take companies out of the JUA!

We can negotiate with our carriers for a “consent-to-rate” policy to keep your company out of the JUA.

And if none of these options provide a solution to your Workers’ Compensation Insurance problem, we can help you to select the right  Professional Employer Organization (PEO), commonly referred to as an “Employee Leasing Company.”

RATING OF WC INSURANCE reflects the basis of premium and the work classification.  

The basis of premium is simply the employer’s payroll — measuring the amount of work exposing workers to loss.

The classification system identifies similar businesses whose loss experience is combined to generate a premium rate per $100 of payroll.

There are about 600 different classifications.

  • The governing classification best describes the insured’s activities.
  • Payroll for four groups of employees, the standard exceptions (clerical employees, drafting employees, sales people, and drivers) is rated separately.
  • The premium is determined by multiplying the rate (based on the classification) times the premium basis (the payroll).
  • Deposit premium is based on estimated payroll.
  • Final premium is based on actual, audited payroll.