Employers Liability Insurance

Businesses must take out employers' liability insurance, under the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Regulations 1998 (SI 1998 no. 2573). Employers’ liability insurance protects a business against claims from employees for accidents or sickness due to work. Insurance certificates should be displayed in the workplace; the legal minimum cover is £5 million.

Employers Liability Online Quote

We can provide immediate online cover for Employers Liability insurance for a variety of trades, please click on the appropriate button for an immediate quote:

Employers Insurance for tradesmen
Employers Insurance for professionals
Employers Insurance for Offices
Employers Insurance for Surgeries and Health Practices

If you are unsure which policy is appropriate or want advice from one of our specialist advisors then please call us or click or fill in the enquiry form by clicking the button below.

		Call us on our local rate number (09:00 - 20:00 Mon-Fri, 10:00-17:00 Sat)	0845 345 1236
		Click on the button to make an enquiry

Your Responsibilities As An Employer

You are responsible for the Health and Safety of your employees whilst they are at work. If an employee has an injury or develops a sickness arising from their employment then they may hold you responsible and attempt to claim compensation. Even after an employee has left your employment you may be responsible if they develop a sickness, even years later, which is a result of working for you - you are now (from 31st December 1998 onwards) required to retain 40 years of old certificates of Employer liability insurance for this reason. If you do not have this insurance, as well as having potentially large claims made against you by a current or former employee, you can be prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive. You can be fined up to £2500 for any day you do not have this insurance and up to £1000 for not displaying your certificate of insurance in the workplace.

Being covered does not mean that you do not have to follow other Health and Safety rules to ensure you operate a safe working environment such as carrying out a risk assessment and taking all practical safety measures. If an insurer believes that you have not taken all the steps which are legally required to ensure health and safety in the workplace then the insurer may be able to sue you to recover the cost of a claim.

Where your Responsibilities Apply

Your responsibilities for injury or sickness claims by employees applies whether they are working on or off site - you are responsible for claims due to injury or accident whilst people are working for you away from your business premises. An exception to this may occur if the injuries are sustained in an accident on the road and these claims are covered separately by your commercial vehicle insurance.

Who Must Be Covered

If you have any employees they must be covered. This includes employees who work abroad but spend more than 14 days in Great Britain or 7 days on an offshore installation.

You may need to cover some people who would normally be considered self-employed, if you supply them materials or equipment, control when or where they work, deduct NI and Income Tax from what you pay them or have a right to a portion of any profit they earn then they may be considered an employee for the purposes of Employers Liability Insurance. You should seek legal advice as to whether you need employer's liability cover for a self employed person if you are unsure.

Some Public and Health Care Organisations are exempt from requiring this insurance. If you employ close family members they may not be counted as employees for these purposes and so exclusively family businesses may be exempt. You should always seek legal advice if you are unsure.

Further Information

Further information can be obtained from the Health & Safety Executive on their website http://www.hse.gov.uk. They provide a guide for employers you can view by clicking here (requires Adobe Acrobat.)

Employer's Liability insurance is often taken out with Public Liability Insurance which covers you for claims made by members of the public or other businesses but not employees - see our Public Liability page for more.

Insurance for Employees

Employees may take out their own insurance to provide income protection and help pay their mortgages and bills should they become unable to work due to accident or illness (although this does not mitigate the employer from providing Employer's Liability Insurance). You can find out about the cover we can provide for accident, sickness and unemployment insurance by clicking here, further information on Mortgage Protection is available by clicking here.

		Call us on our local rate number (09:00 - 20:00 Mon-Fri, 10:00-17:00 Sat)	0845 345 1236
		Click on the button to make an enquiry