Employers’ Liability Insurance Archives

Guide To Employers’ Liability Insurance

Posted on July 20, 2017 Written by Administrator

If you run a business of any kind and employ people on a full-time, part-time or temporary basis, you have a responsibility towards their health and safety. Employers’ liability insurance is designed to provide you with financial cover should an employee suffer an injury or illness that could be considered your fault and decide to make a claim for compensation.

Why you may need employers’ liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement for anyone who employees staff. If you have a business that employs people, no matter how small your business or even if you only have a couple of employees, you must have this insurance in place. Note, there are a few exceptions to this rule.

If you do not have it in place, you could be fined a considerable amount of money as a result.

The reason for this is that you have a duty of care towards your employees, and accidents can happen anywhere. Even a trip on a loose bit of carpet could be the basis for a claim for compensation that could end up costing you a lot of money.

This can clearly lead to serious financial problems for you and your business. Even if you are very careful and follow all the relevant health and safety guidelines, things can still go wrong and it can be difficult to prove that you were not in the wrong.

This type of cover is necessary in any type of business, but it can be even more essential in high-risk areas like construction.

It should also be remembered that it is not only required for full-time and part-time employees, but also for contractors you hire, temporary staff and even volunteers.

What does it cover?

The main cover that this type of insurance provides is legal costs should an employee make a claim for compensation, as well as any claim that is successful.

You may find that court attendance compensation is covered, and this may come with a per-day limit.

It may also be the case that you are offered various other types of insurance along with this, including things like public liability cover, professional indemnity cover and personal accident cover.

Things to look out for

There are many factors to keep in mind when taking out this type of insurance. These include:

always try to choose a provider with experience in this area. You may want to use the services of a broker working with a number of providers in order to get a more suitable policy for your needs;
the cost of the policy may be affected by various factors including the number of employees and the level of cover you require;
other aspects that can affect your cover include the length of time you are trading, the type of company you run, whether you have had any claims over the last five years, and the amount of cover you need;
there are also some exemptions when this cover is not legally required, such as for limited companies that employ one person who owns more than 50% of the company.

Do you need this insurance?

As well as being a legal requirement in most situations, employers’ liability insurance gives you the peace of mind in knowing that you and your business are protected should a claim be made against you. No matter how careful you are to avoid accidents, it is still a requirement that you should not overlook.

Employers’ Liability Insurance

Posted on July 4, 2017 Written by Administrator

If your enterprise employs any members of staff, there is almost certain (subject to just one or two exceptions) to be a legal requirement for you to hold an adequate level of employers’ liability insurance.

Essentially, this is to ensure that you have adequate cover in the event of a claim from one of your employees that you are liable for an injury they may have suffered or an illness they may have contracted as a result of working for you.

What does employers’ liability insurance cover?

Just as it says, this is designed to indemnify you against claims from your employees:

in other words, it aims to ensure that an insurance settlement is available to you in the event of an employee claiming injury (even death), an illness, or other loss or damage, arising from their employment with you;
the law requires that you are covered in this way for a minimum of £5 million – erring on the safe side, to encounter even worse case scenarios, however, business insurance policies may typically provide cover for up to a maximum of £10 million;
the legal obligation extends to your securing cover with an approved insurer;
your obligations and responsibilities under the law are (at the time of writing, June 2017) regulated by the UK’s Health and Safety Executive, which has the power of imposing fines of up to £2,500 for each and every day that you run your business without adequate employers’ liability insurance;
reason enough, therefore, for you to count this particular element of business insurance as a likely necessity.

Buying it

A simple search of the internet might discover any number of insurers prepared to offer you employers’ liability insurance.

Given your legal obligations and responsibilities, not to mention the potentially crippling costs of getting it wrong, however, you might prefer to seek the advice, guidance and expertise of a specialist provider.

Such experienced providers are likely to understand not only the particular needs of your business but also to have long established contacts and working partnerships with those insurers capable of offering the suitable cover for your needs – at a competitive price.

Conclusion

If you employ any staff to help rum any type of business, therefore, the chance are that you are likely to require employers’ liability insurance. Although this may be offered as part and parcel of many business insurance schemes, you may take greater confidence and reassurance by arranging such cover through a specialist provider.

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