March 4, 2015
The New York State Insurance Fund today announced that it will now make it easier for contractors and other employers to obtain subrogation waiver endorsements by offering a new blanket waiver of subrogation on workers’ compensation policies.
Waivers of subrogation are sought by employers so that insurance carriers will not sue a third party if an employee is injured at work and has a cause of action against the third party.
“The advantage of a blanket waiver of subrogation endorsement will be apparent immediately to both the policyholder and to NYSIF staff,” Director of Underwriting Sherwin Taylor said in announcing the new benefit. “Once the blanket waiver endorsement is added to a policy, the policyholder can simply obtain a waiver certificate by requesting it.”
Previously, NYSIF required employers to submit work contracts for NYSIF to review in order to establish that those employers needed waivers of subrogation for their work. The new waiver process removes this unnecessary administrative burden on employers.
Policyholders can now simply request a blanket waiver endorsement by sending an email, fax or other written request to their underwriter or local NYSIF business office (contact details for underwriters are available at NYSIF’s website under Contact Us/Contact an Underwriter). After NYSIF applies the waiver of subrogation endorsement to a policy, policyholders or their representatives should contact their underwriter by email, phone or fax to ask for certificates of insurance containing the waiver clause.
Once programming is completed, customers will be able to print certificates of insurance issued with the blanket waiver clause at nysif.com through NYSIF’s electronic certificate system, eCERTS®. The blanket waiver will not require an end date.
NYSIF is making the waiver available at no charge, forgoing the permitted Rating Board charge of 2% to 10% of premium.