Risk Conversation®

In today’s highly competitive job market, recruiting and retaining top talent has become increasingly challenging. In fact, according to the Washington Post, there has been a recent spike in employee departures, with the Bureau of Labor Statistics reporting that four million people left their jobs in April 2021 alone—the most significant departure rate since the agency started publishing these figures more than 20 years ago.  

While improving workplace policies—such as increasing the company retirement plan match or introducing more flexible work arrangements—can help improve employee satisfaction, other benefits can play a critical role, as well. Specifically, as employers look to help employees safeguard their families’ financial futures, personal excess liability insurance coverage may offer an additional level of security.  

How Personal Excess Liability Insurance Can Help Protect Employees

As risks and exposures—and the financial consequences they present—evolve, it’s critical for employers to continually assess their employee benefit program offering.

In an environment where unexpected accidents can have significant financial consequences, employers should ensure they’re making comprehensive insurance solutions available to their employees. Consider the following scenario: A contractor without medical insurance could slip and fall while working at an employee’s home, resulting in a lawsuit to cover recovery expenses. Since personal liability lawsuits have the potential to run in the multi-million-dollar range, a lack of insurance coverage or insufficient policy limits could be financially devastating to the employee.

That’s where personal excess liability insurance comes in. Excess liability coverage is designed to respond if the costs of a lawsuit or damages exceed the liability limits of an individual’s primary policies for home, automobile, watercraft and/or recreational vehicles, adding an extra layer of protection.

Employers should consider including group personal excess programs as part of their employee benefits offering, giving employees an insurance option to help protect their financial assets and lifestyles. This is especially important when it comes to highly compensated employees and key executives, who may face greater liability risks.

As employers work with their insurance agent or broker, it is important to seek out an insurance carrier with robust group personal excess program offerings, which may include:

• Global coverage, so employees are protected at home or abroad.
• Optional protection on the road, which can respond in the event of accidents with an uninsured or underinsured driver.
• Protection in the courtroom, such as coverage for defense costs in any suit seeking covered damages that continues even if the liability limit is exhausted.
• Automatic coverage for not-for-profit directors and officers, including bodily injury, property damage, and personal injury when acting as a non-compensated board member of a not-for-profit board or homeowners association.
• Coverage relating to reputational damage, such as the expense of hiring marketing firms to help repair reputational damage after a covered loss such as libel, slander, or a lawsuit.
• Identity fraud services, which can grant coverage around and access to a dedicated fraud specialist to help repair and reinstate a stolen identity.

How Group Personal Excess Liability Insurance Programs Can Benefit Employers

While group personal excess programs can help employees, they also can help employers position themselves more competitively in the employee benefits space.

On the heels of a tumultuous year, employees are looking for jobs that can offer them more flexibility, opportunity, and protection. A group personal excess liability insurance program can bolster employers’ benefits offering, showing employees how much the company is invested in their financial security. Plus, when employers offer excess liability insurance on a group basis, employees may be able to receive group rates and higher policy limits than are typically available on individual policies. Employers who offer group personal excess insurance programs should emphasize these benefits to employees, especially as many workers reevaluate their employment needs and desires and seek out additional peace of mind in an uncertain economic climate.   

There are several different ways employers can incorporate an excess liability insurance program into their employee benefits offering. Thus, employers should consult with their insurance agent or broker to determine the structure that works best with their benefits philosophy and partner with a carrier that can help them implement the program that suits their employees’ and businesses’ needs.

Allison Meta is the Indiana Branch Manager at Chubb.