Workman's Compensation for Homeowners Associations

Any HOA who hires General or Artisan Contractors to do repairs in a community should have this. In most cases, that would apply to all HOA Community’s. An association board of directors (BOD) has a fiduciary responsibility to protect the homeowners association from uninsured contractors. The BOD should always make sure a contractor carries general liability and workers’ compensation insurance policies before allowing the contractor to do any work on the association’s property. The BOD protects the association by securing a certificate of insurance from the contractor showing the required coverages are in place prior to allowing the contractor to do any work at all.

• A current resident owner in the community, who is a contractor, performs some work for the community or another owner within the community. If the contractor and any of his sub-contractors get hurt on the job, the HOA would be considered the employer, making the association responsible for the workers’ compensation benefits.
• Workers’ Compensation is a major expense for most Contractors. Some contractors will show evidence of insurance to get a job but then cancel or non-renew to save money. This does happen and you are not required to be notified by the insurance company. This can create a large liability for an association if an employee of the contractor is injured.
• The Manager of your HOA hires an unlicensed contractor who is also uninsured. An Injury occurs. It is possible that a Judge or Jury could rule that the association has joint liability with the associations property manager for workers compensation benefits to the employee injured.