Workers comp is built for one job: benefits for employees hurt at work, plus employers liability up to the limits on the policy. Injuries to customers, damage to property, vehicle crashes and project risks typically fall to other policies. Gleason Insurance Brokers, LLC can help with many of those lines too, subject to underwriting.
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A workers comp policy has two parts. Part One pays the benefits state law sets for an employee's work injury or illness, which is why those benefits are called statutory. Part Two is employers liability: protection when an injured worker or a family member sues the employer, up to the limits printed on the policy's declarations page. Those limits come from the policy and the carrier, not from a law.
Everything outside that, from a customer's broken ankle to a dented company van, typically belongs to a different policy. Contracts often ask for several of them at once, which is why the workers comp waiver of subrogation guide sits next to the certificates a general contractor or landlord asks for.
| Risk | Workers Comp's Role | Where Owners Typically Look |
|---|---|---|
| An employee hurt on the job | The main purpose of the policy | Workers comp, with employers liability under Part Two |
| A customer, guest or passerby hurt at your job site or premises | Typically outside workers comp | General liability |
| Damage to a customer's home, building or belongings | Typically outside workers comp | General liability, subject to its terms and exclusions |
| A crash in a work truck, van or delivery vehicle | May respond to the employee's own injury only | Commercial auto for the vehicle and other people's claims |
| Loss to a building while it is under construction | Typically outside workers comp | Builder's risk or project-specific coverage |
| Tools, equipment or materials stolen or damaged | Typically outside workers comp | Inland marine or contractor's equipment coverage |
| A claim tied to serving alcohol | Typically outside workers comp | Liquor liability |
| A fire or water loss at a kitchen, brewhouse or shop | Typically outside workers comp | Commercial property |
| A bond required for a license or a contract | Typically outside workers comp | Contractor's license or contract bond |
| A claim of wrongful termination, harassment or discrimination | Typically outside workers comp | Employment practices liability |
How any claim is handled depends on the facts and on each policy's terms, conditions and exclusions.
Pickups, service vans, dump trucks and delivery cars are typically insured under commercial auto, which workers comp does not replace. When an employee is hurt in a crash while working, workers comp may answer for that injury, but damage to the vehicle and claims by the other driver go to the auto policy. Gleason Insurance Brokers, LLC places commercial auto through a separate site for trucks, vans and fleets, subject to underwriting.
A single large job can carry its own insurance needs: liability written for one project, builder's risk while the structure goes up, or limits a lender or owner sets in the contract. Developers and general contractors who need that kind of program can start at the brokerage's site for developers and general contractors. Their workers comp still runs through the trade pages here, starting with workers comp for construction trades.
For general liability and other business insurance, start at the main Gleason Insurance Brokers website. Restaurants and breweries tend to need property and liquor liability alongside their general liability, while contractors are more often asked for additional insured wording and certificates by the general contractor or project owner. Owners of a kitchen or taproom can see the workers comp side on restaurant and brewery workers comp.
Some contracts set employers liability limits higher than a policy carries, or ask for an umbrella or excess layer above it. The limit may be raised, or excess may be placed over it with another carrier, subject to underwriting. Note the requirement when you get a workers comp quote, and include a copy of the contract's insurance section if you have it.
This site places workers comp only; the workers comp broker for contractors and restaurants page explains who places it. Before raising limits, check how the workers comp policy's own Part Two limits read; employers liability limits walks through them.
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Typically not. Workers comp is meant for your own workers' job injuries, including, in some states, people the law counts as your employees. An injured customer, guest or passerby usually brings a claim under general liability, subject to that policy's terms.
Often more than one plays a part. The employee's work injury may fall to workers comp, while the damage to the truck and the other driver's claims go to commercial auto. How each claim is handled depends on the facts and on each policy's terms.
Typically not. A claim that a guest was over-served and then hurt someone is a separate exposure, usually handled by liquor liability. That may be added to a general liability policy or written on its own, subject to underwriting.
No. Employers liability is Part Two of a workers comp policy and answers suits connected to an employee's injury, up to the limits on the declarations page. General liability is a separate policy for injuries to other people and damage to their property.
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Reviewed by David Gleason, Principal, on .
Next Level Experience. Insurance Done Right.
Workers comp for your crew; the right policy for everything else.
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