Employers' Liability Insurance

According to The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, if you employ staff that are normally based in England, Scotland or Wales, you must have an Employers’ Liability Insurance.

The Employers’ Liability Insurance ensures you have at least a minimum level of insurance to cover against any claims for compensation from employees relating to injuries or illness resulting from their employment.

Your insurance cover must be at least £5 million.

When you take out or renew a policy, your insurer will give you a Certificate of Employers’ Liability Insurance. This must state clearly the minimum level of cover provided and the companies covered by the policy.

You must display a copy of this Certificate of Insurance where your employees can easily read it (which can be done electronically).

The HSE can enforce the following penalties for non-compliance in this regard:

• You can be fined up to £2,500 for any day on which you are without a suitable Employers’ Liability Insurance.
• If you do not display the certificate of insurance or refuse to make it available to an HSE inspector when asked, you can be fined up to £1,000.

Potentially much more costly, however, is if your insurers believe you have failed to meet your legal responsibilities with regard to the Health and Safety of your employees, and that this has led to a particular claim. If this is the case, the policy may enable the insurers to sue you to reclaim the cost of the compensation paid out.

The TAM Health and Safety software helps you with the Employers’ Liability Insurance as follows:

• By uploading the certificate in one place on TAM, all your employees at all your sites will be able to see it. This process will take about a minute of your time. Compliance made easy!
• The TAM Health and Safety software will automatically remind you when to renew the policy.

This Health and Safety compliance feature is pretty straightforward, however, when it comes to your overall insurance cover, TAM does much more for you. Importantly, by using the TAM software properly:

• Your Health and Safety management will be comprehensive, which - in turn - will minimise any chance of your insurers trying to claim money back from you under the Employers' Liability Insurance in case of a claim and subsequent pay-out.
• Your insurers are likely to take comfort from you using the TAM Health and Safety software, and be more amenable to a lowering of their premiums, saving money for you.