Maritime Employers Liability
Coverage for an employer's liability to its crew — the exposure standard workers' comp doesn't reach.
This is an estimate, not a bound policy — a licensed VAB producer confirms final terms before coverage starts. Sgt. Savings can answer questions but can't quote, bind, or guarantee coverage.
Maritime Employers Liability covers a maritime employer's liability to its crew members under the Jones Act and general maritime law, including maintenance and cure obligations, plus an elective option for Longshore & Harbor Workers' Compensation Act benefits. This is employer liability to crew, not vessel-owner liability for the vessel itself — a distinction that matters because ordinary workers' comp doesn't extend to maritime workers the way it does onshore.
Who This Is Really For
The ideal buyer.
This buyer is a maritime employer of record — a marine services company, a crew staffing firm, or an operator with its own deckhands — who has usually just discovered, sometimes the hard way, that standard state workers' compensation simply doesn't apply to their workforce. They may already carry a hull or protection & indemnity policy on vessels they own and have assumed that covers their people too, only to learn it's a vessel-interest policy, not an employer-liability one. A staffing company that places crew on vessels it doesn't itself own is a particularly clear fit, because it has employer obligations to its workers with no vessel-owner policy anywhere in the picture to lean on. What sends this buyer looking right now is often a new contract requiring proof of Jones Act coverage, or a near-miss injury that made someone finally ask what actually happens if a crew member gets hurt.
- Employers of maritime crew members who need Jones Act liability protection, since standard state workers' comp doesn't apply to seamen
- Companies responsible for maintenance and cure obligations — the maritime duty to pay a sick or injured crew member's living and medical expenses regardless of fault
- Employers who want the option to elect USL&H (Longshore & Harbor Workers') coverage for workers who fall under that federal scheme
- Marine operators and staffing companies that place crew on vessels they don't themselves own
- Any business whose workforce spends meaningful time on navigable waters as part of the job
What It Covers
Coverage, broken down.
Jones Act and general maritime law liability
Covers the employer's liability for negligence claims brought by crew members under the Jones Act and general maritime law — the maritime equivalent of an employer negligence claim.
Maintenance and cure
Covers the employer's maritime-law obligation to pay a sick or injured crew member's basic living expenses (maintenance) and medical treatment (cure) until the crew member reaches maximum medical improvement, regardless of fault.
Elective USL&H benefits
An optional part that extends coverage to Longshore & Harbor Workers' Compensation Act benefits and damages for workers who fall under that federal workers' comp scheme rather than the Jones Act.
Illustrative Scenario — How This Coverage Responds
Illustrative scenario — an injured crew member's maintenance and cure claim
Consider a crew member employed by a marine services company who is injured while performing duties aboard a vessel. As the employer, the company owes maintenance and cure — daily living expenses and medical costs — regardless of who was at fault, under long-standing maritime law. The crew member also brings a Jones Act negligence claim alleging the employer failed to provide a reasonably safe place to work. The employer's maritime employers liability policy responds to both: the maintenance and cure obligation as it accrues, and the Jones Act claim as employer negligence liability.
Illustrative example for education only — not a claim outcome or a promise of payment. Every claim depends on the actual policy issued and its terms.
More Than One Way In
More scenarios.
Real coverage doesn't fit one story. Here's who else this shows up for.
The marine staffing company placing crew on client-owned vessels
A crew staffing firm places deckhands and engineers aboard vessels owned by its clients rather than itself. As the actual employer of record, the firm still owes maintenance and cure and carries Jones Act exposure for those workers, even though it never owns or operates the vessel they're working on — a gap a client's own hull or P&I policy would never fill for the staffing firm.
The commercial fishing operation with USL&H-eligible dockworkers
A commercial fishing operation employs both vessel crew covered under the Jones Act and shoreside workers who load and unload catch at the dock, a role that typically falls under the Longshore & Harbor Workers' Compensation Act instead. Electing the USL&H part of the policy lets the employer address both categories of workers under one program rather than assuming Jones Act coverage alone reaches everyone.
The offshore support vessel operator facing a Jones Act negligence claim
An offshore support vessel operator has a crew member injured during a routine equipment transfer, and the crew member's attorney alleges the vessel wasn't kept in a reasonably safe condition. The employer's Jones Act and general maritime law liability coverage responds to the negligence allegation, separate from and in addition to the maintenance and cure obligation that started accruing the moment the injury happened.
Know The Gaps
What this doesn't cover.
Every policy has limits. Knowing them before you buy is how you avoid a denied claim later.
Liability the company holds as the owner, operator, or charterer of the vessel itself
That's a vessel-interest exposure covered under a separate marine hull and protection & indemnity policy — this product covers the employer's liability to its crew, not the vessel owner's liability for the vessel.
Claims brought directly against the vessel (in rem claims)
In rem claims target the ship itself under maritime law and fall outside an employer liability policy — vessel owners need to confirm that exposure is separately covered.
Ordinary state workers' compensation obligations
This policy exists precisely because standard state workers' comp doesn't reach maritime crew members the way it covers onshore employees — it's not a duplicate of that system.
Occupational disease claims, unless a sublimit is specifically added
Long-latency exposure conditions common in some maritime trades need to be confirmed and priced separately rather than assumed into the base policy.
Injury to a crew member who was hired without the screening or medical evaluation the policy requires
Employers need documented hiring and medical-screening practices in place — skipping them can leave a claim for that specific crew member outside coverage.
Behind The Quote
What goes into the decision.
What actually moves your price and your approval — no black box.
Whether the workforce falls under the Jones Act, USL&H, or both
Different categories of maritime workers fall under different federal schemes, so underwriting needs a clear picture of the workforce to determine whether the elective USL&H part should be added alongside the base Jones Act coverage.
Documented hiring and medical-screening practices
Because coverage for a specific crew member's injury can depend on the required screening and medical evaluation having actually been done at hiring, keeping that documentation current directly affects how cleanly a claim is handled.
Vessel ownership relationship
An employer that also owns the vessels its crew works on carries additional vessel-interest exposure that this policy doesn't reach, so underwriting looks at whether a separate hull and P&I program is or should be in place alongside it.
Nature of the work and typical operating waters
The kind of maritime work performed and where it happens shapes the real injury and liability exposure being insured, which is why the specific job duties and operating areas of the crew matter to how the policy is underwritten.
Let's get you covered.
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Availability
Available nationwide for maritime employers, with the same wet-marine classification and state-by-state compliance handling used for other marine coverage.
Questions, answered straight
No jargon on maritime employers liability — just what you're actually asking.
No. Maritime workers generally fall outside standard state workers' comp systems, so employers need this kind of coverage — Jones Act liability, maintenance and cure, and optionally USL&H — to fill that gap.
This policy covers the employer's liability to its own crew members. Hull and protection & indemnity coverage protects the vessel owner's liability tied to the vessel itself. A company that both owns vessels and employs crew typically needs both.
It's a maritime-law obligation, separate from a fault-based negligence claim, requiring an employer to pay a sick or injured crew member's basic daily living costs and medical treatment until they've reached maximum medical improvement — regardless of who caused the injury.
It depends on the workers involved — some maritime employees fall under the Longshore & Harbor Workers' Act rather than the Jones Act. The USL&H part is elective specifically so employers with that kind of workforce can add it.
Coverage for a specific crew member's injury can be affected if that person was hired without the required screening or medical evaluation, so keeping hiring documentation current matters for this policy.
Beyond This Coverage
What people in your situation also need.
Business Banking
A maritime employer or crew staffing company needs standard business banking for payroll and operations alongside its liability program.
ExploreEquipment Financing
Marine operators regularly finance vessels, gear, and onboard equipment as part of running the operation this coverage protects.
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Learn moreReady to talk it through?
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Insurance products described on this page are marketed by The Veteran Alliance, a licensed insurance producer, and underwritten by one or more separately licensed insurance companies, which may include Corgi Insurance Company and its affiliates. The insurer that actually underwrites your policy, its licensing status in your state, and any state-required notices will be identified in your quote and policy documents. Coverage, limits, eligibility, and pricing are determined by the underwriting insurer, may vary by state, and may change. Nothing on this page is a quote, an offer of insurance, a binder, or a guarantee of coverage — coverage takes effect only when a policy is issued.