Insurance for Home Care and Homemaker-Companion Agencies in Connecticut: The $10,000 Bond and Beyond

Short answer: Connecticut homemaker-companion agencies must register with the Department of Consumer Protection and maintain a surety bond or insurance of at least $10,000 that includes coverage for theft by employees. That is a floor, not a program. Agencies also need general and professional liability, abuse and molestation coverage, workers' compensation, hired and non-owned auto for caregivers driving clients or running errands, a third-party crime bond at realistic limits, EPLI and cyber.

What Connecticut requires

• Registration: homemaker-companion agencies register with DCP before doing business, and registration covers non-medical services only. Agencies providing skilled or medical services are licensed separately by the Department of Public Health.
• Bond or insurance: at least $10,000, including coverage for employee theft. DCP recommends sizing it to the agency's employees and clients.
• Operations: written service plans or contracts, comprehensive background checks, and mandated-reporter training for staff.

The coverage that protects the agency

• General and professional liability for injuries to clients during care, such as a fall during a transfer, and claims about the quality of services.
• Abuse and molestation coverage, frequently excluded from general liability.
• Third-party crime (client property) at limits well above $10,000; a single theft of jewelry or a misused credit card can exceed it.
• Hired and non-owned auto: when caregivers drive their own cars on agency business, the agency can be sued after an accident. Require caregivers to carry adequate personal auto limits and confirm how their policies treat business use.
• Workers' compensation: home care injury rates are high, and Connecticut requires coverage from the first employee. Misclassifying caregivers as contractors is a serious audit and legal risk.
• EPLI for a large hourly workforce, and cyber for client health and financial information.

Families employing caregivers directly rather than through an agency have their own obligations; see household staff insurance. New England Insurance, an independent Connecticut agency in Bridgeport since 2012, places coverage for Connecticut home care agencies. Request a review.