Don’t break your business, the courts won’t care, and ignorance is never a defence!
Last week we talked about the one of only two legally mandatory insurances in the UK, cover for third party injury or damage whilst driving a road registered motor vehicle. Today we talk about the most important legally binding insurance, Employer Liability (EL) cover.
As a business owner it is the one piece of insurance cover you must get right, but not for yourself, more importantly for your employees, who if seriously injured may require an amount of money to look after them for the rest of their lives or if killed, families who may need long term support.
Currently our largest outstanding claim is over £650,000 and that was a guy in his late 50’s so loss of earnings wasn’t even the largest part of it. These claims can easily run into millions.
Under the 1969 Compulsory Insurance (Employers Liability) Insurance Act, cover must be in place for no less than £2,000,000, but in practice all insurers give cover up to £10,000,000 as standard, so the extent of cover is not an issue.
Now the important point, when must you have Employers Liability cover!
If you have a business where there any employees, even for one minute, of one day, of a year, or if you have volunteers or even self-employed sub-contractors, who do not have their own businesses and EL cover, you are responsible for them when they are working for you, especially in manual activities, construction and the like. You must have the cover.
The only exceptions are unincorporated businesses where there are partners and no other employees, volunteers or sub-contractors or in a limited company, where there is only one director and no other directors, officers or other employees. As soon as a limited company has two directors, who are employees of the limited company, cover must be in place as soon as the business is registered at Companies’ house.
Let’s be serious here. The penalties for failing to have the correct Employers Liability cover in place are fines of up to £2,500 per day or up to 6 Months in jail.
If you are starting a business, or registering a limited company, then get advice from a professional, #becauseaccidentshappen to nice people all the time.
We are always here to help and support our clients, just message me here or call and talk to a professional on 029 20 470 375.
