An agency or an independent aide who will come into your parent's house may hand you a certificate of insurance. It looks official. It has a logo, a box for policy numbers and a list of coverages. Read it as a summary written by someone who would like you to sign, because that is what it is. The certificate does not give anyone coverage. The policy does. The certificate only reports what the insurer's agent says the policy contained on the day the form was issued.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
What to read on the page
Start with the name of the insurance company, not the agency. Agencies often list a broker, and a broker is fine, but the insurer should be named somewhere on the form. Write down the policy number and the policy period. The period has to cover the days and hours the aide will be in the house. A certificate that ends before the first shift, or that runs out during your first benefit month, does not protect the shifts that come after it.
Next, find the two lines families most often skip. The first is general liability, which responds if someone is hurt in your home or if the worker damages your property. Note the per-occurrence limit, which is the most the policy will pay for one event. The second is workers' compensation, which responds if the aide is hurt while working in your house. On many certificates this line reads as statutory limits for the state, and your state, Missouri, should be named. If the workers' compensation line is blank, or says the employer is exempt, ask what that means before the first visit, and ask for the answer in writing.
Last, check the certificate holder box. It should show your name and the address of the house where care is given. If it names the agency's office instead of your home, ask the agent to reissue the form.
What the certificate cannot tell you
A certificate describes a policy. It does not prove the policy is active today, and it does not say the policy covers every task the aide will perform. Some policies exclude certain kinds of personal care or limit coverage for services in a private home. That language lives in the policy wording, not on the summary. Call the insurance company using the number on its own website or the agent's listed office line, and ask two things: whether the policy is in force, and whether it covers in-home personal care at your address. Write down the name of the person you spoke with and the day of the call.
Ask the agency to send the certificate to you directly from the agent or insurer. A copy forwarded through several hands can be altered, and a copy handed to you across a desk is only as current as the last time someone updated it.
If you hire the aide yourself
If you hire the aide directly rather than through an agency, the paper changes. An agency's certificate is no longer the document that protects you, and the question becomes whether you have become the employer. That is a question about tax, workers' compensation and your own homeowner's policy, and it belongs with the people who handle those things. Call your homeowner's insurance agent and ask whether a paid worker in the home changes anything under your policy. Ask the state workers' compensation office, or an accountant, how employer obligations apply to a person you pay to help in your home. Write the answers down and keep them with the agreement.
Comparing two certificates
When two agencies send certificates, put them side by side and compare the same lines: the insurer, the policy period, the per-occurrence limit, whether a workers' compensation line appears, and the certificate holder. A larger number on one form is not better if that insurer cannot be reached or the period ends in a few weeks. Ask each agency for the same paper, and notice how long each one takes to produce it. A slow answer to a simple request is information too.
Keep the paper with the agreement
Put the certificate in the same folder as the signed agreement, the list of shifts and the name of the person who will receive the call when a shift is missed. When the policy renews, ask for a new certificate and check it the same way. Coverage can lapse at renewal without anyone deciding that it should.
If you are not sure which of these questions applies to your household, the Local Help for Hospice Families page lists where to start in west St. Louis County. The Sources page shows where the rules described here come from, and How We Write explains how each piece is checked.