Employers' Liability Insurance
About public and employers' liability insurance for your business
As a Willis Towers Watson Network Broker, we can access a wide variety of insurers to provide public and employers' liability insurance quotes. All businesses have a duty of care to provide a safe working environment and purchase employers' liability coverage.
Workplace protection in employers' liability insurance explained
Employers' liability insurance is one of the few types of compulsory insurance under UK law. Combined with public liability insurance they play an important role ensuring that businesses can meet compensation awards that arise in the workplace. It is worth noting employers are responsible not only for their own acts of negligence, but also for those of their employees.
What is employers' liability insurance?
Employers' liability insurance is a compulsory legal requirement for any business that has employees, and will offer financial protection against compensation claims arising from injury or illness at work.
The compensation payments awarded by the courts may include payments for medical bills, lost income from working, and their legal fees. Claims can become very expensive if a person is unable to return to work and support themselves.
At get indemnity™ employers' liability insurance quotes starts from £80 per year or £6.67 per month. Commonly purchased by businesses under an office insurance policy if your activities are clerical based.
What does compulsory employers' liability insurance cover?
Coverage for employers' liability insurance means your organisation is protected from having to make significant compensation payments because of workplace injury or illness of your employees. If you are found not to have the correct cover at work, you can be fined up to £2,500 per employee per day.
Legal defence costs
Coverage for employers' liability will seek to defend the allegations made against you, which can be very costly and time consuming.
Compensation awards
Damages awarded to compensate the claimant can include past and future medical expenses, and lost income from working.
£10 million cover
You are required to buy a minimum £5 million cover. However, it's common for insurers to provide £10 million at no additional cost.
Looking for employers' liability insurance? Talk to one of our expert brokers about your business needs
We work with a wide range of providers which can accommodate when other insurers decline to quoteHow does employers' liability insurance work?
Slips, trips and falls
The most common type of accident in the workplace are slips, trips and falls. Although less serious for your staff, the legal costs can still be expensive.
Hazardous workplace
By not creating a safe work environment for your employees means you could be held accountable and be forced to compensate your staff.
Co-worker actions
Your business can be held accountable for the actions of your staff if they injury another employee.
Working at height
With staff working at height or working at depth means an increase in exposure to accidents which serious injuries can occur.
Faulty equipment
A fault with the equipment you provide your staff could mean you are legally responsible for any injuries or potentially death.
Repetitive strain injury
Ergonomics has gown in importance and office staff could find your business responsible for receptive strains.
How much employers' liability insurance cover does your business need?
Prudent businesses and organisations are increasingly purchasing an Excess of Loss policy to provide increased limits for their liability exposures. You can purchase an umbrella policy which will increase the amount of cover for employers' liability.
Personal injury compensation can include compensation for any expenses incurred, loss of earnings, possible loss of future earnings, pain and suffering. The amount of cover you need will depend upon the industry you work.
For example, many companies working within the construction industry will typically purchase between £15 million to £25 million employers' liability cover. Unfortuantely, claims inflation and how long-term care rates are calculated have increased.
What other business insurance do we need?
Find employers' liability insurance deals to ensure you buy the most cost-effective cover
Frequently asked questions
Is workers compensation and an employers' liability policy the same?
Workers compensation insurance is a term commonly used in North America for the same type of coverage. You may come across the term when signing contracts that identify what types of business insurance you are expected to arrange.
What is employers' indemnity insurance?
Employers' indemnity insurance is another name for employers liability coverage. Indemnity is defined as putting the claimant back into the same financial position before the incident took place. Compensation awarded by the courts will seek provide financial recompense.
Should we buy public liability and employers' liability together?
Both will protect against personal injury and compensation claims, however the key difference is whether the cover will insure against claims from members of the public or your employees. Business insurance for personal injury claims will nearly always be purchased together from the same insurer because your risk profile is similar and a claim could occur where both covers would be required to pay compensation.
How does a employers' liability insurance policy work?
The coverage works on an occurrence basis, whereby the policy period in which the loss occurred will respond, irrespective of when the claim is made. This is required because some diseases and subsequent claims may not become apparent until years after the employee was exposed to unsafe conditions. For example, if an ex-employee becomes ill from asbestosis while they worked for you in 2010, but claims years after when the disease is identified, the occurrence policy in 2010 will respond to the claim. The above ensures if a business becomes insolvent or is acquired, there are no disputes as to who is responsible. For gradually developing diseases, such as asbestosis, the insurers who covered the risk over the development period will share the cost.
Are we required to display our insurance certificate?
Employers must display, at each premises, a certificate of employers' liability insurance to demonstrate the employer has the required insurance. Subsequent amendments to the regulation now allow for a certificate to be made available electronically, potentially through an intranet site, provided all employees have access to it. If you do not hold valid a employers' liability policy, you can potentially be fined £2,500 for each day you are not insured. Whereas you can potentially be fined £1,000 if you do not display your certificate. The Health and Safety Executive offers a brief guide for employers regarding the Employers Liability Compulsory Insurance Act 1969.
Who does employers' liability insurance cover?
An employee is typically defined as "any person who is under a contract of service with the policyholder". Employers' liability insurance will also typically include self-employed persons, hired persons, students, and voluntary workers. It's worth noting the injury or illness must have been caused in connection with the policyholder's business activity. However, the insurance cover can also include activities such as first aid, medical, ambulance, fire and security services and maintenance.
What other types of insurance can I get for my business?
There are a wide variety of business insurance covers available, professional indemnity, cyber insurance, directors and officers insurance, are just a few covers designed for business that have not been mentioned above.
How much does employers' liability insurance cost?
Employers' liability insurance quotes starts from £80 per year or £6.67 per month for a small business with clerical employees. However, if your employees undertake manual work, then the cost of cover can increase significantly. For example, a small construction insurance company with three employees may be paying +£500 for the same policy cover.
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60% of the fall from height fatalities and 30% of major injuries occurred within the construction industry. This equates to 35 fatalities and 938 major injuries, due to falling from height in the construction industry in 2019/20.