What is a waiver of subrogration?
Under a waiver of subrogation, the insurer (that's SAIF) gives up the right to seek recovery from a third party who may have caused the injury to your worker. It is not included in a standard workers' comp policy, but may be added by request.
The four types of waivers
SAIF has four waiver of subrogation options available to meet your needs:
Full Waivers are used when you request that we waive our subrogation rights to recover against everyone. This includes waiving subrogation rights against other drivers in a motor vehicle accident unrelated to a specific project or specific contract. "Full" means all third party recoveries of any type.
Since a Full Waiver is all-encompassing, you do not need any other type of waiver if you select a Full Waiver endorsement for your policy. The Full Waiver charge is one percent of manual premium.
Partial Waivers are used when you request that we waive subrogation rights against one third party for one contract or project. The waiver will name the contract or project to show that it (the waiver) is limited to a specific contract or project. (Note: Subrogation is not waived against everyone on that project—only for the third party named in the Partial Waiver.) The Partial Waiver charge is .25 percent of manual premium.
Contract Waivers are used when you request that we waive subrogation rights for a single third party for multiple contracts. A Contract Waiver may be used in combination with Partial Waivers if needed. The Contract Waiver charge is one percent of manual premium.
All Written Contract Waivers are used when you request we waive subrogation rights for multiple contracts that each require the waiver. The contracts may be with many different business partners at different locations.
The distinguishing feature for written contract waivers is that the contract itself requires a waiver. If you enter into some contracts that do not require a waiver, then we do not waive our rights in those situations. The maximum waiver charge in any one policy year is one percent of manual premium, regardless of the number of contract or partial waivers that are applied to the policy.
Wrap-up projects
If you are working on a wrap-up project, contact your agent or SAIF. Waivers for specific wrap-up projects must be filed with the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services as part of the wrap-up filing.