Employers’ liability insurance explained
It’s not just for permanent employees – you might face a claim against you from self-employed contractors, temporary staff or even volunteers. Having employers’ liability insurance in place means you’re covered if anyone makes a claim against you. We can cover you up to £10 million for legal costs, compensation and expenses.
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About employers’ liability insurance
About employers’ liability insurance
What does employers' liability cover do?
Even with the most careful attention to health and safety, accidents still happen. They might be your fault, their fault, or just a freak accident, but even if you know you’re not to blame, you could still have to fight allegations even after the employee has left the company. Employers’ liability covers you for the legal costs and any compensation you may have to pay.
When should I get employers' liability insurance?
If you run a limited company and you employ anyone, in any capacity, no matter what they’re doing or how many hours they work, it’s a legal requirement to have employers’ liability insurance. Whether they’re full-time, part-time or even working for you as a volunteer, If you don’t have a policy in place you could face a hefty fine, even without anyone being injured or ill.
How much employers' liability cover will I need?
Working out how much cover you need means understanding what you might be liable for. It’s not just employees and contractors, it's anyone working for you in any capacity – trainees, apprentices, even just a friend helping out at the weekend. If they’re doing work for you and they’re injured or become ill because of it, you’d be liable. The legal requirement is £5m but we can cover you up to £10m to make sure you’re protected.
All you need to know about employers' liability insurance
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Where employers’ liability cover can help
Where employers’ liability cover can help
All kinds of workers, all kinds of work
You’re responsible for the safety and wellbeing of everyone who works for you. That includes a full-time permanent employee, but it also includes your brother-in-law popping out for coffee and tripping over a computer cable. employers’ liability insurance covers you for claims arising from any person doing work in any capacity and makes sure you’re not caught out.
Accidents and illness
Accidents happen, but employees can fall ill or be injured over a longer period in ways that might not seem obvious to begin with. You may have thought about slips, trips and falls and have ergonomic furniture, but longer-term or stress-related illnesses could be blamed on work. Then there are the times someone just spills hot coffee on a colleague.
Insufficient training for the job
We’d like to think we take care of our employees and give them the training they need to do their jobs. It’s in their interests and our own to do so, but if employees injure themselves using a piece of equipment and claim it’s down to insufficient training, then rightly or wrongly you might need to defend yourself. We’ll cover your legal costs and any compensation you have to pay.
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What’s included in your employers’ liability cover
We’ll cover you if:
- Someone works for you over several years and claims that their job caused RSI.
- An employee makes a claim after leaving the business and you were insured with us at the time of the alleged accident.
- Someone works for you for a day and gets injured leaving the building.
- Stock isn’t stored safely and someone is hurt when a pile of boxes falls over.
- A long-term employee starts to lose their hearing due to long-term exposure to noisy machinery.
Need more details?
Download a summary of what our employers’ liability insurance covers and the policy wording here:
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Read our FAQs of popular questions about employers' liability insurance to find answers to questions on policies, quotes, and payments.
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