Insurance Law Lesson 38: If Your Business Has Employees…

… Your CGL is not a substitute for worker’s compensation (WC) or employer’s liability (EPLI) coverage.

The standard CGL excludes coverage for liability that should be covered by WC, disability, or unemployment. It also excludes coverage for bodily injury incurred by employees because of their work.

There is overlap between the WC exclusion and the employer’s liability exclusion. When could an employer face liability that is not covered by WC?

There are many examples. Here are a few:

-In states where WC does not bar suits against the employer for gross negligence.

-The employer’s liability exclusion bars coverage for BI to “the spouse, child, parent, brother or sister” of the employee.

-For third-party suits brought against the employer by other parties who may share in the liability. For example, in the employee is hurt by a defective product at work, he cannot sue the employer outside of WC. But he can still sue the product manufacturer, who can then file against the employer. Such an action (by the product manufacturer against the employer) would be precluded from coverage by the ISO CGL employer’s liability exclusion.

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