Vicarious Liability for Agency and Contract Staff
What this clause says
Insured includes the Named Insured solely with respect to liability arising out of the acts or omissions of Independent Contractors, including temporary or agency nursing personnel, performed on behalf of the Named Insured, but no such Independent Contractor is an Insured under this Policy.
What this actually means
When a facility uses agency nurses or contract therapists, two coverage questions arise. First, does the facility policy cover the facility for claims arising from what those workers did. Second, is the worker themselves an insured. Those are different grants, and a form that provides the first does not necessarily provide the second.
What it means for an operator
Agency staffing went from a stopgap to a structural feature of senior care staffing, and coverage did not always follow. A plaintiff suing over a medication error by an agency nurse will name the facility, and the facility will be defended on vicarious liability and on its own negligent supervision. If the facility policy carves out independent contractors, the operator is exposed for the conduct of workers it does not employ but does direct. Meanwhile the agency contract almost certainly requires the agency to carry its own professional liability and to name the facility as an additional insured. Both halves have to actually exist: confirm your own form covers you for contractor acts, and collect and read the agency certificates rather than filing them unread.
How this evaluates
The Policy Checker applies these rules in order; the first match wins.
staffing agency vicarious is set -> Compliant: Vicarious liability for agency and contract staff is covered. Also confirm each staffing agency carries its own professional liability and names you as an additional insured. staffing agency vicarious is not set -> Gap: Claims arising from agency or contract clinical staff may not be covered, in an industry where agency staffing is now structural rather than occasional.
See this in your policy
Check this term against your own program.
Run the Policy CheckerRelated clauses
Common questions about this clause
- Who is liable when an agency nurse causes a claim at my facility?
- What happens to our coverage when hospice provides care in our building?
- Do I need separate professional liability if I have a combined form?
- Who should be a named insured on a senior care liability policy?
- What does a senior living certificate of insurance need to show?