Asking for an insurance statement..?

[Herbus]

Hi All, we're getting a regular cleaner in every fortnight to look after our PPOR. We have landlords insurance on our investment, but for the PPOR I expect our policy doesnt cover liability for another party carrying out business on our site...

Is there a statement of insurance I should ask any worker for so I can be comfortable with them working here? So far the worker my wife likes (comes highly recommended) says her husbands insurance covers her, but at this stage it's just verbal - do I need to cover myself better than this against any risk?

Many thanks

 

[Perp]

Hi All, we're getting a regular cleaner in every fortnight to look after our PPOR. We have landlords insurance on our investment, but for the PPOR I expect our policy doesnt cover liability for another party carrying out business on our site...

Check - it might!

Is there a statement of insurance I should ask any worker for so I can be comfortable with them working here? So far the worker my wife likes (comes highly recommended) says her husbands insurance covers her, but at this stage it's just verbal - do I need to cover myself better than this against any risk?

Like you, I'm very conservative about these kinds of litigation risks. In QLD, you can buy an annual household workers' insurance policy - which covers cleaners, babysitters, gardeners, etc - for under $100. Good peace of mind, IMHO.

Contact the workers' compensation organisation in your state.

 

[wylie]

Like you, I'm very conservative about these kinds of litigation risks. In QLD, you can buy an annual household workers' insurance policy - which covers cleaners, babysitters, gardeners, etc - for under $100. Good peace of mind, IMHO.

Contact the workers' compensation organisation in your state.

I assume this is the same policy we have had for years. It is paid bi-annually and cost us $35 for two years.

It's called Household Workers' Insurance Policy and comes from WorkCover Queensland.

From the back of the renewal notice -

"Definition of a Household Worker

'Household Worker' means a person employed solely in and about, or in connection with a private dwelling house or the grounds of the dwelling house. For example. a Household Workers' Insurance Policy will not cover workers employed by a landlord in connection with rented houses, flats, boarding houses and the like, nor will it cover workers employed in or about a dwelling from which a business is conducted. You will need an Accident Insurance Policy to cover these workers."

When we took out the policy nearly 20 years ago from memory our understanding was that it covered, for example, an ironing lady coming to the house in the event she had an accident and slipped on the stairs, or similar scenario. My understand was that unlike a friend who is invited to the house and is covered by the household policy, this covered paid workers, but I could well be wrong.

Either way, we continue to pay it just in case, and it is as cheap as chips.

 

[marg4000]

We have the same household workers compensation policy as Wylie.

Even though we don't have workers coming to our home regularaly, we keep the policy going. It is cheap enough and covers us "just in case" some casual contractor does not have insurance and injures themselves on our property.
Marg

 

[Herbus]

Thanks all, that sounds spot on, but a google for "household worker insurance" and similar only seems to have the QLD policy result - I'm in Victoria,.. anyone aware of a policy matching that here?

 

[kissfan]

Wouldn't the cleaner, gardener etc have to have their own insurance?

Regards
Marty

 

[wylie]

My understanding was that it would cover the house owner just in case someone didn't have insurance, say an ironing lady or casual cleaner without company backing, or even without her own insurance.

 

[Perp]

Wouldn't the cleaner, gardener etc have to have their own insurance?

As wylie said, they should have their own insurance, but do you want to rely on it? If you use the neighbour's 16yo daughter as a babysitter, she probably doesn't have insurance, but the policy would cover them. The policy also covers people who deliver things to your home, taxi drivers who knock on the door, as well as any people who typically work for cash, such as cleaners, gardeners, lawn mowers, tutors, etc.

 

[kissfan]

My understanding was that it would cover the house owner just in case someone didn't have insurance, say an ironing lady or casual cleaner without company backing, or even without her own insurance.

If you use the neighbour's 16yo daughter as a babysitter, she probably doesn't have insurance, but the policy would cover them. The policy also covers people who deliver things to your home, taxi drivers who knock on the door, as well as any people who typically work for cash, such as cleaners, gardeners, lawn mowers, tutors, etc.

All good points Wylie & Ozperp.

Better to be safe than sorry eh, and as pointed out, a fairly cheap insurance to cover yourself.

Regards
Marty

 

[Herbus]

Aha! Household Workers Compensation in QLD, in other states it seems to be Domestic Workers Compensation/Insurance... looks like CGU offers this, I'll get in touch tomorrow for a quote!

Thanks for your input everyone