What insurance do I need to employ or contract with a carer?
- By Nick
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If you choose to employ a paid carer to work for you, you become their employer and this means that you have certain responsibilities. You should have the right carer insurance in place to protect them as your employee and also yourself, should anything go wrong.
If you have decided to hire a paid carer or personal assistant through direct payments, individual budgets or personal funds you will need to ensure that you have Employer’s Liability Insurance in place. This protects you in case the person that you have employed is injured or ill while they are working for you and they seek compensation against you. You can be fined by he Health and Safety Executive if you do not have the right insurance in place as an employer. The price of your policy will be given for a whole year, but many companies will let you pay on a monthly basis. Have a look around at the different companies offering Employer’s Liability Insurance, as some packages will have extras included in the price.
If you are using a self-employed carer, you are not required to have Employer’s Liability Insurance as the paid carer must have their own insurance in place, but it is still advisable to err on the side of caution and get yourself insured. Always ask to see the insurance certificate of a self-employed carer before allowing them to work with you.
In the UK, there are a few insurance companies that offer specific insurance for those who are hiring their own paid carers. We have detailed four of the insurance policies available, which give you Employer’s Liability Insurance, Public Liability Insurance and a range of useful additions.
Surewise
Surewise provide two similar but slightly different policies, one for people who received a Direct Payment (or Personal Budget) from their local authority and one for people who self pay. Both ar designed to protect you and your employee against claims that could arise in connection with you receiving care. They offer three different levels of cover, all include
- Employers Liability Insurance up to £10m
- Public Liablity Insurance up to £5m
- Employment Law Guide
- Legal Expenses
Mark Bates Ltd (Premier Care)
The Home Employment Insurance policy is for people employing their own personal assistants, offering complete and comprehensive cover. It helps those who hire their own paid carer using the government’s direct payments or Personal Budgets, as well as self-payers. It is available in three levels of cover: Standard, Plus and Deluxe.
The Home Employment Insurance policy includes:
- Employers’ liability
- Public liability
- 24-hour legal and tax advice helpline
- 24-hour employment law helpline
- 24-hour domestic emergency helpline
- Indemnity to Principal
- Legal expenses (Plus and Deluxe only)
- Compensation awards (Plus and Deluxe only)
- Personal accident (Plus and Deluxe only)
- Redundancy (Plus and Deluxe only)
- Notice period (Deluxe only)
- Damage to employers’ possessions (Deluxe only)
- Pension cover (Deluxe only)
Jelf (Formerly Bluefin)
Jelf offers a Direct Care insurance policy to individuals who employ personal assistants or carers under the UK Government Initiative Scheme, receive direct payments, personalisation or individual budgets or privately fund the employment of carers/PAs. There are three levels of cover: Bronze, Silver and Gold.
The Direct Care insurance policy includes:
- Employers’ liability up to £20 million
- Public liability up to £5 million
- Legal expenses up to £100,000 (Silver and Gold only)
- Personal accident (Gold only)
- Injury protection
- Employer’s possessions
- Costs for failure of the carer to attend
- 24-hour helpline
Fish Insurance
Fish offers Independent Living Insurance to give protection to individuals who choose to employ their own personal assistants or paid carers. There are two levels of cover available: Basic and Full.
- The Independent Living Insurance policy includes:
- Employers’ liability up to £20 million
- Public liability up to £5 million
- Indemnity to Principal
- No excess
- Redundancy & notice payment cover (Full only)
- Replacement employment cover (Full only)
- Identity theft (Full only)
- Loss of keys (Full only)
- Errors and omission by employee (Full only)
- Theft by employee (Full only)
- Personal accident (Full only)
- Accidental death and funeral cover (Full only)
- Hospitalisation benefit (Full only)
- Emergency medical collection (Full only)
- Cost of home alterations (Full only)
- 24-hour employment law and tax advice line (Full only)
- Compensation costs (Full only)
- Court and tribunal costs (Full only)
- Payroll advice (Full only)
- Customer Care helplines (Full only)
- Health and safety advice (Full only)
- Contract disputes (Full only)
- Published on May 07, 2018