Employers' Liability Insurance

As an employer you are responsible for the health and safety of your employees whilst they are at work. Should your employees be injured at work or become ill as a result they may be able to claim compensation.

The Employers' Liability Act 1969 made employers’ liability insurance compulsory in the UK for most businesses with employees. Employers' liability insurance enables your business to meet the cost of compensation awarded to injured employees as well as associated legal costs.

When you take out or renew a policy including employers' liability insurance with us we will provide you with a certificate of employers' liability insurance that will state the companies covered by the policy.

This must be displayed prominently where your employees can read it. You may display your certificate electronically but if you choose to do so you must ensure that your employees know how and where to find it and have reasonable access.

If you have contracted employees you will almost certainly need employers' liability insurance. Employers can be fined up to £2500 a day whilst they don't have adequate liability cover.

There are some other occasions that are exempt but these can vary depending of the nature of the work, the relationship, the contract between you and the staff member. Always seek advice before you leave yourself, your business and your employee vulnerable.

Employers' liability insurance is most likely needed if:

• The equipment, materials and/or work premises are owned by you.
• You are paying national insurance for any of your staff.
• You maintain control of where and how they perform their work.
• They work under similar conditions and treatment to another member of staff who is covered by the insurance.

Staff who may not need employers' liability cover are:

• You, the business owner
• Close family members
• Unpaid workers
• Some independent contractors or non-exclusive workers

If you employ staff, you are legally required to take out employers' liability insurance but if you fail to do so you may be fined up to £2,500 for any day which you are without suitable cover. This is enforced by the Health and Safety Executive.

To meet the legal requirement cover of £5 million is typically needed, but most insurers – including Towergate – will offer up to £10 million. Compensation claims for staff are often very high, which is why the insurance is compulsory.

We will only arrange your employers' liability cover when we are also arranging your public liability insurance, or as part of a small package business cover policy.

Whilst public liability insurance is not compulsory this will protect your business from claims for injury or damage from third parties other than employees.

If you would prefer to spread the cost of your policy you have the option of setting up a Direct Debit to pay your premium in equal monthly instalments through our preferred provider, Premium Credit Limited (PCL).

If you want to know more about our monthly payment option, please read our dedicated page on Direct Debit. To understand more about how PCL work together with Towergate, please read our Regulatory Information.