Guide · Money

Home care agency insurance: what you need and what it costs

The two policies

General liability covers injury and property damage around your operation. Professional liability covers harm from the care itself — the aide's act or omission. Non-medical agencies typically carry both, often bundled, plus workers' compensation (a state employment requirement, separate from this discussion) and a fidelity/dishonesty bond where the state requires one.

State minimums: the exception, not the rule

Most states do not set your liability limits — the market does, through referral sources and landlords. California is the exception founders cite: its Home Care Organization license requires $1,000,000 per occurrence / $3,000,000 aggregate across general and professional liability. Where your state sets no minimum, our state page says exactly that — and the calculator still budgets insurance, because 'not required' is not 'not needed'.

The binder mistake

Applications routinely stall because the insurance certificate (the 'binder') names the wrong entity — the owner personally instead of the agency LLC, or a trade name instead of the legal name on the license application. New York law-firm guidance flags this as a routine stall. The fix is free: make the name on the binder match the name on the application, character for character, before you file.

Cost planning figure

Our calculator budgets a $2,800 first-year planning estimate for non-medical liability cover. Your quote will move with state, limits, caregiver count and claims history — get it after your entity exists and before your license application, because several states want the binder with the filing.

Dataset pages behind this guide: California state page · New York state page · the full 50-state dataset (checked October 22, 2026).