Specialty Insurance Program for Household Employers
Hiring a worker for your home – like a nanny, senior caregiver, personal assistant, or housekeeper – or employing an estate staff – brings convenience and efficiencies for your family. You also take on some risk as a household employer.
To mitigate these risks, avoid costly labor compliance issues, and protect your assets, GTM Insurance Agency has established a special program for household employers and high-net-worth families.
Backed by licensed insurance brokers, household employment experts, and certified human resources professionals, it’s the protection – and peace of mind – you need when employing workers in your home.
GTM has been working with high-net-worth families and their financial advisors, as well as family offices, for more than 30 years, establishing the right protections and household employment best practices to help ensure a safe and risk-free work environment.
With our experience, we can simplify the process of obtaining insurance coverage and provide exceptional client support every step of the way.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
One of the biggest mistakes families make as household employers is failing to obtain workers’ compensation coverage. A policy needs to be in place on the first day of employment, helps with medical expenses and lost wages if your employee is injured or becomes ill on the job, and protects you from a lawsuit.
In some circumstances, we may be able to include workers’ compensation in your homeowner’s policy. Or we can obtain a separate policy for you.
Many states require household employers to have workers’ compensation, and you can be fined for not having a policy. These fines can be as high as $5,000 for every 10 days without required coverage. And you can face a lawsuit from your employee to recover lost wages and medical expenses stemming from an on-the-job accident or illness.
The GTM Insurance Agency can create a specialized worker’s compensation program to meet the unique needs of household employers. We’ll shop for the best rates, obtain coverage for you, and help manage your policy.
Disability Insurance (New York State)
Household employers in New York State are required to provide disability insurance to their employers. If your employee becomes ill or disabled and unable to work, their jobs might be protected, but they’re often left with no replacement income. To help these workers, New York State requires that employers provide short-term disability insurance. This type of coverage pays a percentage of an eligible employee’s income if they become disabled because of an off-the-job injury or illness.
Paid Leave Requirements
Paid sick and family leave programs are growing in popularity across the U.S. Household employers in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and several other states may be required to carry paid family leave insurance (PFL). Employees can typically take leave to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, and tend to needs related to a family member’s military service.
The GTM Insurance Agency can obtain disability insurance and PFL coverage for household employers.
Protecting Your Assets and Lifestyle
Beyond reducing risk and providing safety in the workplace, GTM can also protect your assets and lifestyle with customized, personal insurance policies.
Whether it’s insuring a primary or second home, multiple vehicles, or additional properties, our experienced agents will work with you to determine the right amount of protection for you, your family, and your belongings.
Some of the coverages we can provide include:
Homeowners Insurance
Homeowners insurance is designed to protect homeowners from financial losses due to unexpected events such as theft, fire, and natural disasters.
Auto Insurance
Auto insurance is a type of insurance policy that provides financial protection to drivers in the event of a car accident or other incident involving their vehicle. If a nanny or other household employee drives your car as part of their work responsibilities – for example, a nanny takes your children to activities or a senior caregiver brings an elderly loved one to appointments – you’ll want the proper coverage that protects both you and your employee.
Life Insurance
A life insurance policy provides a sum of money to one or more of the policyholder’s beneficiaries when they die. It’s important to have coverage in place, especially if you have loved ones who depend on you for living expenses, college tuition, and other types of financial support.
Umbrella Insurance
Umbrella insurance is a type of personal liability insurance that provides an extra layer of protection beyond the limits of the policyholder’s homeowners, auto, and watercraft personal liability limits. It kicks in when the liability limits of these other policies have been reached
Second Home Insurance
Second home insurance is a type of property insurance specifically designed for a second or vacation home. Unlike insurance for a primary residence, second home insurance typically faces different risks and might have different coverage requirements due to the nature of how and when the property is used.
Ransom Insurance
Ransom insurance sometimes referred to as kidnap and ransom (K&R) insurance, is a specialized type of insurance designed to protect individuals and families against the financial losses associated with kidnappings, ransom demands, and other similar extortion situations. This insurance can cover a wide range of scenarios, including traditional kidnapping, express kidnapping (where the victim is abducted for a short time to withdraw funds), cyber extortion, and even threats of harm.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance policies pick up where your primary health plan leaves off, acting as your primary insurance while abroad. These policies offer more than just emergency benefits, covering physician office visits, ambulance services, prescription medications, and expensive items such as hospitalizations and surgeries. Travel insurance for household employers can also cover foreign employees when they first arrive in the U.S. on a work visa or permit.
Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)
EPLI is a type of liability insurance that can cover a household employer against claims made by employees alleging discrimination (based on sex, race, age, or disability, for example), wrongful termination, harassment, and other employment-related issues. It is designed to help protect the employer from costly litigation and damages arising from these claims.
Employee Theft and Dishonesty
Even when a household employer makes the best effort possible to take precautions against hiring an untrustworthy employee, surprises do occur. Employee theft and dishonesty insurance can help protect household employers from financial losses that may result in this situation. A fidelity bond (also called “employee dishonesty insurance”) protects a household employer from theft – cash, checkbook, credit cards, or any other property – by covering the employer for any such losses.
Employee Benefits
One of the most effective ways to attract top talent and retain your best workers is through employee benefits like health, dental, vision, and life insurance. Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) and Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) are also popular with household employers and may provide some tax savings for you and your workers.
The GTM Insurance Agency offers employee benefits for our clients’ convenience. We can help create a customized employee benefits package and shop for the best rates from among all the top national brokers.
Your employees can also get their own auto, life, home and/or renter’s insurance policies through GTM.
