UK Business Insurance

Business Insurance, Commercial Insurance and more. It's all at Insurance Central!

Employers Liability Insurance

If you are an employer in the United Kingdom or in any other European country, you must by law cover your employees while they are at work with employer's liability insurance. There are some exceptions to this rule but they usually relate to public bodies. Employer's liability insurance enables you to meet the cost of compensation for your employees' illnesses or injuries whether they are caused off-site or on-site. Illnesses or injuries caused by motor accidents that occur while your employees are working for you may be covered separately by your car insurance.

Indemnity for employers’ liability insurance is ten million pounds in respect of all claims arising from one cause. But the minimum amount required by the current law is only 5 million pounds. You do need to have employer's liability insurance for the following: deduct national insurance and income tax from the money you pay them; the right to control where and when they work and how they do it; you supply most materials and equipment; have a right to any profit your workers make but you may choose to share this with them through commission, performance pay or shares in the company. You will be responsible for any losses; you require that person only to deliver the service and they can’t employ a substitute if they are unable to do the work; they are treated in the same way as other employees.

As stated earlier employers liability insurance is required by law and you can only use certain insurance companies. They must be authorised under terms of the Insurance Companies Act of 1982.

If you take out an employers’ liability insurance policy your insurance company may refuse to pay compensation if: you have not given reasonable protection for your employees against any injury or disease; you can’t provide certain information to the insurance company; you have done something they told you not to do; you have not done something they told you to do; you have not met legal requirements connected with protection of your employees.

But if you don’t carry out a risk assessment and fall below legal health and safety standards they can sue you to recover the costs of the claim.

Employers Liability Insurance Action Checklist:

• Work out how much insurance cover you need

• Prove that you have had a good record on health and Safety to the insurance company with correct documentation

• Read the policy document and question any part that seems obscure

• Keep up the insurance payments, you will be in breach of the law if you don’t. You could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each day you pass without insurance

• Make sure you display the certificate of insurance in a prominent place or have the document ready to produce it on demand - failure to do so could incur a fine of £1000

Click Here for a Employers Liability Insurance