How The Coverage Is Structured\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n1. Claims-made, not occurrence: <\/strong>EPLI responds to claims reported during the policy period, not to when the conduct happened. Two consequences follow. First, letting the policy lapse strands you \u2014 a claim filed next year about something that happened this year has no policy to report to. Second, your retroactive date defines how far back the policy will reach. When you switch carriers, preserving that date matters more than saving a few dollars in premium.<\/p>\n2. Defense costs inside the limit: <\/strong>On most EPLI forms, defense costs erode your limit rather than sitting on top of it. A $1 million limit that spends $250,000 on defense leaves $750,000 for settlement. Ask how the form is written before you choose a limit.<\/p>\n3. <\/strong>Retention and the hammer clause<\/strong>: You’ll carry a retention (a deductible) that applies to defense and settlement alike. Separately, most policies contain a consent-to-settle or “hammer” provision: if the carrier wants to settle and you refuse, your recovery may be capped at what the settlement would have cost. Softened hammer clauses \u2014 where the carrier and insured share costs above that point \u2014 are negotiable on many programs.<\/p>\n4. <\/strong>Choice of counsel<\/strong>: Most carriers assign defense counsel from a panel. If you have an employment attorney you trust, ask whether they can be added this is easier to negotiate at binding than at claim time.<\/p>\nThis article is general information about insurance products and is not legal advice or statement of coverage, Coverage terms, conditions, limits, and exclusions vary by carrier, policy form, state and only the police as issued determines what is covered. Statistics cited are drawn from publicly reported EEOC fiscal year enforcement data and published industry estimates of employment litigation cost: individual results vary widely.\u00a0 Not all products are available in all states <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Most employment claims don\u2019t come from bad employers.\u00a0 They come from ordinary decisions – a termination, a promotion, a complaint handled quietly- that an employee later sees differently. If you have employees, you have employment practices exposure.\u00a0 That\u2019s true whether you have four people or four hundred, and it\u2019s true whether or not you\u2019ve ever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":64170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[98,90,13],"tags":[1224,139,1225,1223,1222],"class_list":["post-64166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cyber-liability","category-general-liability-insurance","category-workers-compensation","tag-employment-liability-insurance","tag-employment-practices-liability-insurance","tag-employment-practices-liability-insurance-coverage","tag-epli-coverage","tag-epli-insurance"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t