Grace runs a licensed home care agency in Vancouver, Washington, with sixty caregivers who help older adults with bathing, meals, medications, and errands. Most caregivers work part time, many drive between two or three clients a day, and some take clients to appointments in their own cars.
She had professional liability through a healthcare program. She called after a caregiver she terminated for attendance problems filed a complaint alleging she was fired for requesting an accommodation.
What she asked for
Whether her insurance covered the complaint.
What the review found
No employment practices liability. Her professional liability covered claims about care provided to clients. It did not cover claims from her own caregivers. With sixty employees, part-time schedules, and high turnover, employment practices liability was the agency's most likely claim, and she had none.
Caregivers drove clients in their own cars. When a caregiver drives a client to a doctor's appointment and has an accident, the caregiver's personal auto policy responds first, often with low limits, and some personal policies exclude this kind of use. The injured client, or another driver, would then look to the agency. Grace had no hired and non-owned auto coverage.
Abuse allegations were not addressed. Home care means caregivers are alone with vulnerable adults. Her professional liability had a low sublimit for abuse and molestation claims.
Wage and hour exposure. Home care agencies face claims over travel time between clients and overtime.
What we put in place
We placed EPLI with a carrier experienced in healthcare staffing, rated on the full workforce, with wage and hour defense coverage and access to an HR hotline. The complaint already on her desk could not be covered: no policy picks up a claim that exists before it starts. We connected Grace with employment counsel for that one, disclosed it on the application, and made sure the next one would have a policy behind it.
We added commercial auto with hired and non-owned auto liability, covering the agency when caregivers drive clients or run errands in personal vehicles. We also set up a policy requiring caregivers who transport clients to carry minimum personal auto limits and provide proof annually.
We moved the professional liability to a home care program with a full abuse and molestation limit and coverage for the agency's supervision and training.
Why it mattered
Six months later, a caregiver driving a client to a pharmacy was hit at an intersection. The client was injured, and the caregiver's personal policy paid its limit. The client's family then filed a claim against the agency for the rest. Hired and non-owned auto coverage responded.
If you run a home care or healthcare staffing agency
- EPLI is essential when your workforce is large and part time
- Add hired and non-owned auto if employees drive clients or run errands
- Check your abuse and molestation limit, not just the professional limit
- Require caregivers who drive clients to carry adequate personal auto limits
Get a free policy review and we will map every way your caregivers' work reaches your policies.