Ask About Liability and Workers' Compensation Coverage Before You Sign

Before you sign with a home care agency, ask for the insurance certificate, check which party it protects, and confirm the coverage is current.

Rankings · November 8, 2026

Before a family signs with a home care agency, the insurance paperwork matters as much as the caregiver's introduction. Two coverages do most of the work. Liability insurance responds if the agency or its staff cause damage or injury to someone else. Workers' compensation covers an employee who is hurt while on the job. Neither replaces the other, and an agency can carry one without the other.

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Ask for the certificate in writing

Request a certificate of insurance from the agency office before the first visit is scheduled. Compare the legal name printed on the certificate with the name on the service agreement. A mismatch can mean the policy does not cover the company you are actually hiring.

Read the dates

Confirm that the policy period covers the whole time the agency will serve your household, not only the day you received the paper. Ask what happens at renewal and how the agency tells clients if coverage changes.

Ask who the caregivers are on paper

Ask whether the people who enter your home are employees of the agency or independent contractors. The answer changes who carries workers' compensation if a caregiver is injured during a visit. Ask the agency to name the carrier for that coverage and send a certificate for it as well.

Check the car and the house

If a caregiver may drive a family member, ask whether the agency's auto coverage applies and whether your own auto policy is involved. Ask also what the agency expects from your homeowners or renters policy. Some policies treat a worker inside the home differently, so call your own insurer with the agency's paperwork in hand.

Where to take the questions

A licensed insurance agent can read the certificate against your own policies. An attorney can advise on contract terms. This guide does not interpret either document. The method behind the front page ranking is explained on our How We Rate: Methodology page, which is a useful place to start before you pick which agencies to question first.

The map shows where help is thin. This is where to ask for it.

Tell us the county and the hours that need covering. A locally owned team will say honestly whether it can cover them and what starting with a few hours would look like.

New Plan Care Solutions is independently owned and operated in St. Louis by Stacie Postol. Non-medical in-home support for St. Louis and St. Charles counties: personal care and daily routines, companionship, homemaking, respite for family caregivers, and day-to-day help while recovering at home. Short-term, overnight, 24-hour and live-in care with no long-term contract. Fully insured, with background-checked caregivers screened through the Family Care Safety Registry. Care visits start at $136 (a four-hour visit at $34 an hour). Every family starts with a complimentary in-home care consultation and up to 2 hours of care observation: no cost, no obligation.

The guides on this site are educational, not medical advice.