If you’re making an addition to your home, making repairs, or having any type of work at all done on your home by hired outside contractors, the only thing missing from your standard homeowners policy is workers’ compensation. Most large contractors carry workers’ compensation insurance for their employees, but if you hire a smaller company or even a handyman to do some work on your home and they don’t, you may be liable if someone is injured while working on your home.

There is additional coverage you can purchase if the workers you hire are uninsured. It’s called unit workers’ compensation. If you carry this homeowners coverage option, you will not be liable if some uninsured workers are injured while working on your property. Instead, the insurance company will cover medical expenses and lost wages faced by the worker. If you do not have coverage, you will be legally responsible for paying whatever your workers compensation insurance provider will cover.

So, who should buy this extra policy? Anyone who has a reasonable amount of money and/or value in a home, and hires uninsured laborers to work on their property. If you are in a bad financial situation, this coverage may not be necessary because you can only be sued for what you can afford to pay. This course is open to all types of interpretation, so if in doubt, buy coverage. They are not very expensive and can save you a lot if something happens.