Employers Liability Insurance

Offshore liability

10/04/2012 in Employers Liability Insurance, Public Liability Insurance

Over the last few years it has been common practice for offshore contactors to set up limited liability companies. In the majority these are one man band operations where the owner is the sole employee.

Oil companies will typically be looking for these companies to carry public liability, employer’s liability and in some cases professional indemnity insurance.

We are often asked the question “Is employers’ liability really necessary?” The situation is that if the providing these companies have just one director and no other direct employees or sub-contractors there is no legal requirement for employer’s liability insurance.

As employer’s liability can be a costly for offshore work there maybe scope to save on premium by excluding employer’s liability from the insurance programme.

Macbeth have access to a number of facilities are for offshore Liability is aimed at contractors working at oil refineries, wind-farms, offshore rigs and the like.

For further information in respect of offshore liability insurance, contact David Mann on 0118 9165 486, or complete one off our enquiry forms.

How does public and employers liability insurance work?

13/02/2012 in Employers Liability Insurance, Public Liability Insurance

Public liability insurance offers financial protection against claims from members of the public for bodily injury or property damage, providing that the policyholder is legally liable.

Employer’s liability provides financial protection against claims from employees for bodily injury, providing the employer is legally liable.

There are two ways that Insurers calculate the premium for these policies. For smaller businesses the insurers calculate the premium based on the number of employees, this is called “per capita” rating.

For larger companies the premiums tend to be rated on the estimated turnover and wage roll. Estimates are provided at the outset of the insurance and insurers charge a deposit premium based on these figures. At the end of the period of insurance the insurers will ask for a declaration of wages and turnover and then adjust the premium accordingly.

Other factors in determining the premium will be the public liability indemnity limit. The minimum indemnity limit is normally £1,000,000. It is commonplace for indemnity limits to be £2,000,000 or £5,000,000. Public liability for scaffolders and other higher risk occupations can require indemnity limits of £10.000,000, especially if work is being carried out for local authorities.

There are also various specialist insurance schemes for industry sectors. For example there are specialist insurance policies for the cleaning industry and for the security sector.

For further advice on liability insurance, please contact Tony Gibbs on 01189 165 485 or complete one of our enquiry forms.

Important changes regarding Employers Liability Insurance

01/04/2011 in Employers Liability Insurance

From April 2011, the Employer’s Liability Tracing Office (ELTO) will replace the current voluntary Employer’s Liability Code of Practice. Insurers will be required to supply data on all of their employer’s liability policies, to be stored on the Employer’s Liability Database (ELD)

The changes have been brought about because if employees suffer sickness or injury at work, it may not immediately be apparent—in fact, in some cases, symptoms may only emerge decades later. This makes it extremely difficult to identify who the employer’s liability carrier was at the time. This new initiative will ensure that full records are kept in a single central Employer’s Liability Database (ELD), making it a simple matter to pinpoint exactly who insured the employing company when the illness or injury occurred.

Our responsibility as insurance brokers placing employers liability insurance, will be to inform insurers of the employer reference number (ERN)—this is also known as the ‘employer PAYE reference’, which is allocated by HMRC and appears on PAYE forms and documents.

For more information about the ELTO or about employers liability risks contact Tony Gibbs on 0118 9452944

Employers Liability Crackdown

15/10/2010 in Employers Liability Insurance, Insurance Industry News

The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) are cracking down on employers who are neglecting to insure their compulsory employer’s liability risks. The HSE can impose fines of up to £2500 for any day on which an employer is without suitable insurance. If they do not display the certificate of insurance or refuse to make it available to HSE inspectors when they ask, they can be fined up to £1000.

Recent statistic revealing that up to 20% of small business may be running the risk with no insurance. Unfortunately, lack of knowledge is no excuse as far as the HSE is concerned and they have already set up a telephone helpline where employees can report their employers’ if they believe they do not have the correct cover.

For further advice on employer’s liability insurance contact Tony Gibbs on 0118 9452944 of email tony.gibbs@macbeths.co.uk

Employers’ Liability Factsheet

08/10/2010 in Employers Liability Insurance, Factsheet

Employers’ Liability Insurance can be a particularly difficult issue; in fact a recent survey revealed that over 210,000 small and medium sized businesses in the UK are breaking the law by operating without such cover. That means there are possibly around 1.8 million employees that have no cover in the workplace.

If you are an employer in the UK, you are responsible for the Health and Safety of your employees while they are at work. If you employ anybody in your business – even if they are part-time or casual staff, you must purchase Employers’ Liability insurance.

Employers’ Liability insurance is compulsory. The Government first introduced the Employers’ Liability Compulsory Insurance Act in 1969. This ensured that all employers had the protection of a minimum level of insurance cover against claims from employees, should they seek compensation following injury or illness as a result of their work.

The introduction of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Regulations in 1998, resulted in a legal minimum cover of £5 million, although the more usual limit of indemnity offered by insurers is £10 million.

Employers’ Liability policies cover injury that is caused during the period of insurance. Consequently, when injury or disease manifests itself years after the original cause, for instance an industrial disease, there is a need to identify the Employers’ Liability insurers dating back to the when the original cause occurred.

You should display your Employers’ Liability certificate in a prominent position within your usual place of work, as you may need to produce it on demand. Failure to do this may result in a fine from the Health & Safety Executive. In addition, the certificates should be retained for a period of 40 years so you must ensure that adequate storage procedures are in place.

Robin Pritchard, Director – The Mongoose Partnership Ltd

08/10/2010 in Employers Liability Insurance, Testimonial

Macbeth have acted as both adviser and provider to this company for a number of years and during that time have consistently given us a very high quality of customer service.

I have no hesitation in recommending Macbeth to any discerning organisation or individual who looks for efficiency, cost effectiveness and added value from their insurance brokers.”

Robin Pritchard, Director
The Mongoose Communication Ltd

Employers liability insurance

05/11/2008 in Employers Liability Insurance

From 1 October 2008 you are now allowed to display your certificate of Employers Liability Insurance electronically.

Employers choosing this method need to ensure their employees know how and where to find the certificate and have reasonable access to it.

Factors to consider include the availability of the chosen format and ensuring employees understand how to use it. For example, this arrangement may be suitable where all employees have access to a computer as part of their job.

You need employers’ liability insurance unless you are exempt from the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act.

The following employers are exempt:

1. some other organisations which are financed through public funds, such as passenger transport executives and magistrates’ courts committees;
2. family businesses, ie if all of your employees are closely related to you (as husband, wife, civil partner, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, stepfather, stepmother, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, stepson, stepdaughter, brother, sister, half-brother or half-sister). However, this exemption does not apply to family businesses which are incorporated as limited companies; or
   companies employing only their owner where that employee also owns 50% or more of the issued share capital in the company.

For further information about employers liability insurance or liability insurance in general, please contact Tony Gibbs.