Host Employer Liability Policy (HELP) is a liability product designed to cater for a growing need in the Australian insurance market.
The need has arisen from the increasing claims being made by Hosts under their conventional broad form public and products liability policy as a result of actions by Third Party Workers (or more and more commonly subrogated actions).
The use of Third Party Workers by businesses around Australia is a well developed and mature phenomenon, and in fact there is an increasing reliance and expenditure on Third Party Workers; who are provided by a diverse and sophisticated array of labour hire companies and contracting organisations.
In the event that any direct employee of a labour hire company or contractor is injured whilst carrying out work duties, they are entitled to the benefits of the relevant workers compensation legislation that exists in each state or territory in which they are employed.
“Injured” Third Party Workers can seek to claim damages or costs from the Host Employer as a result of a perceived negligence by the host that resulted in them suffering an injury. In addition workers compensation insurers and Government Workcover agencies are also exercising their rights of subrogation to recover the costs of workers compensation from Host Employers.
These claims are a result of a legal liability that arises from this tortious action (between third parties) that emanates from a workplace incident. These claims are rightfully made against this policy as it stands. As a direct result liability insurers are reacting with some excluding the cover for this exposure, or applying high deductibles, or conditions of use, or (and sometimes in addition) loading the premium in an attempt to recover the cost of these claims.
As a consequence businesses are seeking to control their exposure to this liability in several ways, including the use of Host Employer contractual indemnities. Such methods are becoming so convoluted and confusing that they can make the effective management of the exposure and the relationship that exists almost impossible. Many businesses are coming to the conclusion that these indemnities do not provide the certainty of cover that they are looking for.
HELP provides a simple remedy to this dilemma by providing a separate insurance policy, which allows the exposure to be identified, understood, quantified and managed effectively.
HELP can be taken out by the Host Employer direct or by the Labour Hire Company or Contractor on behalf of their client. No more GREY areas now a BLACK and WHITE insurance solution is available.
HELP will be offered by Lawsons Underwriting Australasia as a proprietry product to business Australia.
