Insurance
Home›Insurance›Liability Insurance›Brokers face more suits tied to voluntary employee-pai…
Brokers face more suits tied to voluntary employee-paid coverage
A critical illness plan at United Airlines covered by an employee who pays $2,336 annually is part of a broader ERISA-related dispute about broker conduct, including how benefits were marketed and configured.
A growing wave of lawsuits over voluntary benefits, where employees pay for coverage through payroll deductions, is increasingly targeting brokers rather than just carriers, according to Insurance Business.
The article describes employee-paid coverage disputes, including a case filed by Andrew Pimm regarding critical illness insurance and accident and hospital indemnity coverage at his spouse's employer, United Airlines, where the employee reported paying about $2,336 a year for critical illness insurance and roughly $862 for additional coverage while the employer contributes nothing.
Since December 2025, proposed class actions under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act have named Mercer, Willis Towers Watson, Gallagher, Lockton, and benefits communication firm BCInsourcing, along with the employers they advised, the outlet said.
Insurance Business also notes that these suits are focusing on broker conduct, including enrollment branding and the degree of discretion brokers had over carrier selection and program setup, and points to the Department of Labor safe harbor conditions under 29 CFR 2510.3-1(j) for whether certain payroll-deducted, employee-paid coverage sits outside ERISA.