Employer-provided insurance may be used to meet the College’s professional liability insurance requirement, provided that the policy:
- offers coverage for you personally, of at least $3,000,000 per occurrence, and the funds are not shared with the organization and other employees, that is, the individual coverage to you of $3,000,000 must not be limited by the amount of the group policy insurance;
- explicitly covers you as an individual registrant for the social work or clinical social work services you provide; and
- covers any non-registrant who assists you (the registrant) in providing social work or clinical social work services to clients.
However, there are two key exceptions that you must also consider:
- As the insurance policy is owned by the employer, the insurance policy will likely not cover you for any work done outside of your employment relationship such as engaging in private practice on the side (“moonlighting”) or volunteering, so you must not moonlight or volunteer in a professional capacity without independently purchasing professional liability insurance.
- The distinction between an employee and an independent contractor is subtle and you may need legal advice on this question. If you are an independent contractor, any insurance policy purchased by the organization with whom you contract may not cover you, meaning that you must purchase independently purchase professional liability insurance.
It is your responsibility to confirm that the employer’s policy meets these criteria. If the above criteria are not met, or if there is any uncertainty, you must obtain individual coverage to ensure compliance with section 82 of the Bylaws.