Approximately 70% of all businesses today haven’t purchased Employment Practices Liability insurance. So, big deal, you might be saying, I’m in the 70% that got to save money! Yes, that is true, but this can be an extremely costly decision on your part.
Employee law suits are a lot more common than you might think. In addition, they are costly to defend with the average claim currently reaching $70,000.
What is even more distressing is that most business owners believe that they already have this coverage under their existing policies. That is absolutely not true! Most commercial as well as personal policies exclude coverage for claims related to employment practices such as racial or age discrimination, wrongful termination, or sexual harassment to name just a few of the most common allegations brought by employees.
The coverage is easy to obtain and relatively inexpensive, not even requiring an application in most cases. More importantly, some carriers will add the coverage to an existing business owner’s policy for a minimal additional premium.
The most valuable portion of this coverage, in my estimation is the fee legal counsel available to policyholders including loss prevention measures to assist in helping to stave off a lawsuit stemming from wrongful acts defined in employment practice law.
We strongly suggest that you ask your agent how to better protect yourself and your business against the growing number of lawsuits being brought each day. Remember, when times are tough, people who are desperate look for any way to keep going!
By Karen Skoler, CPCU