Can employer ask for my liability insurance info?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello fellow nurses! I have had my employer ask me recently for my information. I work for a relatively small home care agency. I am responsible for training caregivers and delegating nursing tasks to them. I have recently purchased my own liability insurance policy but I'm not sure that I should be sharing that information with my employer. Is it really their right to know? It seems like it could be used against me somehow. I haven't been able to find any answers so thought I'd try all nurses :) thanks so much for any help!!

How did they know that you have your own policy?

They don't know. I think they just assumed I had a policy when I didn't...

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Specializes in ER.

If you have your own policy and they know it, they and their clients can sue you for a substantially larger sum. If you make an error and the company gets sued, they can turn around and sue you to recover some of the money. Having an insurance policy makes that lawsuit worthwhile, where they might not bother if you didn't have coverage.

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If you have your own policy and they know it they and their clients can sue you for a substantially larger sum. If you make an error and the company gets sued, they can turn around and sue you to recover some of the money. Having an insurance policy makes that lawsuit worthwhile, where they might not bother if you didn't have coverage.[/quote']

This is my concern...which makes me hesitant to just hand over my declaration page...

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If you have your own policy and they know it they and their clients can sue you for a substantially larger sum. If you make an error and the company gets sued, they can turn around and sue you to recover some of the money. Having an insurance policy makes that lawsuit worthwhile, where they might not bother if you didn't have coverage.[/quote']

I would be careful with a job that asks for it because of this

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I'm well aware of the difference between the two roles. My point is that I don't understand why people get so spooky about this topic. I have homeowner's insurance; I have automobile insurance; so does everyone else, and no one feels the need to be secretive about those. I also have professional liability insurance (same as I did for all the years I was a staff nurse, before returning to school). Why is that any different than having homeowner's or automobile insurance, and why do people get all mysterious and paranoid about discussing it? It doesn't typically come up in conversation, but when it does, or an employer asks, I don't see any reason to be secretive about it.

Do you give this information to your employer? Not just he card proving you have some insurance, but the paper showing how much for each type of insurance on your car and home insurance. I'm guessing not that likely.

Personally, I would never tell my employer if I have a personal insurance policy because its a personal policy, not a requirement of the job and shouldn't be a part of the PERMANENT EMPLOYEE FILE. But this is just me. If they asked me, I would tell them no because its not in the job requirements and I don'e believe its any of their business. I would probably also start searching for a better job/employer because this situation doesn't make me comfortable with the quality of employer/manager.

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If she has it, she wouldn't work as a scape goat....so having it may lead to her being fired.

Oh, paranoid horsepucky. :)

Why shouldn't you tell them? "I have had my own nursing practice insurance since I graduated from college. I view this as a professional responsibility." Period. Why on earth would they hold it against you? Has anyone ever given you any kind of rationale for that?

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If you have your own policy and they know it, they and their clients can sue you for a substantially larger sum. If you make an error and the company gets sued, they can turn around and sue you to recover some of the money. Having an insurance policy makes that lawsuit worthwhile, where they might not bother if you didn't have coverage.

No, anybody can always sue anybody for anything for whatever sum they pull out of their, umm, the air (assuming a plaintiff can get an attorney to take the case-- you wouldn't be-lieve the ones they turn down every week). Whether or not you have insurance is not a determining factor in whether a case has merit. If it does have merit, meaning there is a really good reason to expect it will prevail, then the next decision point for the plaintiff's atty (the ones that would be suing you and the hospital) would be whether the damages they might get awarded will pay for the trouble and expense of bringing the suit.

As to the company "turning around and sue(ing) you to recover," it is unlikely that the company will be self-insured; their insurance will be the one who pays any judgment against them. IF the fault was yours, the insurance company will be legally able to recover their losses from you ... which is why you have your own insurance. But the fault must lie with you. Just being there and having an insurance policy in your pocket does not make you the target. Only doing something badly wrong that hurts someone when that person had a right to expect you to take proper care of him makes you the target.

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If you have your own policy and they know it, they and their clients can sue you for a substantially larger sum. If you make an error and the company gets sued, they can turn around and sue you to recover some of the money. Having an insurance policy makes that lawsuit worthwhile, where they might not bother if you didn't have coverage.

If a lawsuit happens, it will come out anyway. It's standard question come lawsuit time to find out if you have insurance. So keeping quiet about it now isn't going to stop any of that from happening.

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Do you give this information to your employer? Not just he card proving you have some insurance, but the paper showing how much for each type of insurance on your car and home insurance. I'm guessing not that likely.

Personally, I would never tell my employer if I have a personal insurance policy because its a personal policy, not a requirement of the job and shouldn't be a part of the PERMANENT EMPLOYEE FILE. But this is just me. If they asked me, I would tell them no because its not in the job requirements and I don'e believe its any of their business. I would probably also start searching for a better job/employer because this situation doesn't make me comfortable with the quality of employer/manager.

I've never had an employer ask about my automobile or homeowner's insurance, because neither of those are relevant to my employment, and I would have to question the rationale and motivation if an employer did ask. However, I was asked a few times over the years as a generalist nurse about professional liability coverage, and I've been asked pretty routinely as a CNS in advanced practice roles (and expected/required to have my own coverage), about what company covers me and what the limits of my coverage are, and, because it's directly related to my job, I think that's perfectly reasonable and I have no problem with providing the requested info. I just applied for reappointment/recredentialing in my current CNS position and had to provide the face sheet of my policy that shows the specific dates and limits of coverage, and also had to mail a form to my insurance company to complete and return directly to the medical staff office, verifying my coverage and any hx of claims. I don't have any problems or concerns about that.

To me, this issue is similar to all the nurses that want to keep their last names secret at work -- what's the big deal, and why are people so reluctant to take responsibility for being a grown up, licensed, professional? IMO, this is just part of being a responsible professional.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

I would have no problem...my question would be why do you need this information. Full disclosure. As far as my last name....I don't like it on my badge...too many weirdos out there....but I work the ED

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Just wanted to add - if you are an educator, make sure that your professional company is aware of this. They may have to adjust coverage because as an educator, you are liable for the quality of the education you produce. This increases your risk of exposure.

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If you work home care, and use your own car, yup, they will ask.

I've never had an employer ask about my automobile or homeowner's insurance, because neither of those are relevant to my employment, and I would have to question the rationale and motivation if an employer did ask. However, I was asked a few times over the years as a generalist nurse about professional liability coverage, and I've been asked pretty routinely as a CNS in advanced practice roles (and expected/required to have my own coverage), about what company covers me and what the limits of my coverage are, and, because it's directly related to my job, I think that's perfectly reasonable and I have no problem with providing the requested info. I just applied for reappointment/recredentialing in my current CNS position and had to provide the face sheet of my policy that shows the specific dates and limits of coverage, and also had to mail a form to my insurance company to complete and return directly to the medical staff office, verifying my coverage and any hx of claims. I don't have any problems or concerns about that.

To me, this issue is similar to all the nurses that want to keep their last names secret at work -- what's the big deal, and why are people so reluctant to take responsibility for being a grown up, licensed, professional? IMO, this is just part of being a responsible professional.

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