legal, insurance, liability-insuranceI know, at least in my home state of North Carolina, that Worker’s Compensation Insurance (WCI) is required by law. But when I got a quote for coverage, it also included Employer’s Liability Insurance (ELI) as “Part 2” of the proposed plan.
I can see two possibilities for this. Either (1) ELI is the mechanism for providing WCI, or (2) they’re trying to pull a fast one and bundle the two together. Case 1 is totally reasonable, but Case 2 is not acceptable, and I’m having difficulty discerning between the two. And, perhaps not surprisingly, the sales agent is not super helpful in clarifying this point.
So my question: is ELI the mechanism for providing WCI and/or required by law, or is this bundling that I can refuse?
To clarify: although information about my home state of NC would be especially helpful, I will accept an answer for any state or a general answer that covers most states. Thanks!
After speaking on the phone with the NC Department of Insurance, I can now answer my own question.
In short, Employer’s Liability Insurance (ELI) is a legitimate requirement for a Worker’s Compensation Insurance (WCI) plan (at least in North Carolina).
While it may not be precisely true that ELI is “required by law”, it is legitimately part of the requirements of WCI and so not a red flag for a WCI plan. Furthermore, some of the questions that appeared odd to me, such as whether we travel for work or do any subcontracting, were also legitimately related to the worker’s comp law.
In contrast, what’s called “General Liability Insurance” is elective. (As are “premises” insurance and “errors & omissions” insurance, for that matter.) So if I saw that on my plan, I could feel free to say “no thanks”.
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