No, your homeowners/umbrella/whatever will NOT cover you for an employee. Those policies are structured to cover visitors to your home, occasional workers (like a plumber who should have his own worker's comp, etc).

Without it, your choice may be to either bankrupt yourself paying someone else's long term medical bills (imagine, say, a fall causing major bone damage while chasing your child), or being the asshole who fights your employee tooth and nail to prevent having to pay for those bills, or the even bigger asshole who just acts like you don't know it's part of your liability if it happens.

In any case, you are required by law to carry it, at least in MD.

Wouldn't your homeowners insurance cover this if you told them you have a household employee? Or umbrella insurance, which I think covers anyone who's injured on your property?

OP here: Thanks so much for your response. I feel better knowing that this seems to be the going rate.

That's about what we're paying. We pay more per hour, but only 25 hours a week. It seems expensive, but it covers you for a year and is only a drop in the bucket of what it would cost if you ended up needing to pay for her care if, say, she fell down some stairs and broke something, or was hit by a car, or was otherwise severely injured.

Hello!

My family is part of a nanny share in MD and my husband and I are looking to purchase worker's comp insurance. Our home owner's insurance company (USAA) doesn't offer this, and they referred us to Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company. Is $662/year a reasonable amount to pay for worker's comp in MD? She will be working 40 hours/week and will be paid $10/hour by my family (and another $10/hour by the other family). Are there any other insurance companies we should look into to compare prices?

Thanks!