What is Employment Practices Liability Insurance (EPLI)?

What is Employment Practices Liability Insurance? 
Employment Practices Liability Insurance protects business owners from being sued by past, current or potential employees. Reasons for being sued that an EPLI policy protects include:

• Discrimination (age, sex, race, disability, etc.)
• Wrongful termination
• Sexual harassment
• Breach of contract
• Infliction of emotional distress or stress
• Employment-related claims that violate employees’ civil rights
• Other employment-related allegations.

  Who needs EPLI insurance?  
    Any business owner who hires employees faces a risk of being sued by past, current and potential employees. Many business owners will tell you that while they once thought of their business as "one big happy family", they later had to deal with lawsuits from those same people.


Can I attach EPLI insurance to a Business Owners Policy or General Liability Policy?
   The answer will vary from company to company, but generally, most BOP's and GL's that offer EPLI provide lousy coverage. Buying stand alone EPLI coverage offers much better protection and at much higher limits.

• Stand alone EPLI coverage offers much higher liability limits compared to EPLI policies that are attached to a BOP or GL policy. Many business owners policies max out liability at $25,000, while stand alone coverage usually offers up to 2 million in coverage.
• Stand alone EPLI policies generally have less exclusions as to what is covered.
• Stand alone EPLI policies offer additional coverage options that are not usually included in attached policies:
  • Third Party Coverage - many lawsuits can stem from people not at all associated with your business (example: a customer becomes irate at one of your employees. The employee later sues you, claiming you didn't do enough to diffuse or rectify the situation). Third party coverage is available for most types of businesses.
  • Defense outside of limits - Many EPLI policies include defense costs as part of the total liability you are covered with. By having the defense outside of limits coverage, legal costs DO NOT count against your liability coverage.
  • Prior acts coverage - If there was an occurrence that took place prior to you buying an EPLI policy that neither you or your managers were aware of, this option would cover you if it occurs within the policy year.

  How do stand alone EPLI policies compare with attached EPLI policies in terms of premium?
    This answer will vary greatly from company to company. Much of it has to do with what is covered (or what isn't), and the limits the company offers. Common sense tells us that the cheapest policies offer the least protection and/or the lowest limits of coverage.
     The key is to find a company that offers the best protection at affordable rates. For most business types, ABA Insurance Services offers the greatest value as far as high levels of protection and coverage versus premium. ABA also has great flexibility in terms of the size of businesses they accept. They can cover the smallest of businesses and also cover larger businesses of up to 250 employees (with part time employees counted as 1/2).
   If you live in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Virginia or West Virginia, you can get a quote with ABA through my agency in less than 5 minutes by clicking below.
  

   Get an EPLI Quote with Lyles Insurance 


  Call me for a Quote