Contract Cleaners
Who needs Employers Liability Insurance?
Help and advice for Contract Cleaners looking to arrange employers liability insurance cover - from Polished Insurance.
You MUST take it out if some or all of the following conditions apply to you and your employees;
- You deduct National Insurance and tax from the money you pay them
- You have the right to control where, when and how they work
- You supply most materials and equipment
- You have rights to the profits and suffer the losses your employees make
- You hire that person to do the job and then cannot substitute another to take their place
- They are treated the same as other employees, i.e. they have the same terms and conditions
You MAY NOT need employer's liability insurance if some or all of the following conditions apply to you and your employees.
- You do not deduct tax or National Insurance (though this alone is not sufficient proof)
- They do not work exclusively for you
- They supply most of the materials and equipment to do the job
- They are clearly in business for personal benefit
- They can employ a substitute whenever they cannot work themselves
You normally don't need to insure volunteers but you will need cover for students who work unpaid, participants taking part in a youth or adult training programme, or a school student on a work experience programme. If this applies, contact your insurance company and consider taking out insurance as they may be classed as employees.
Most public organisations such as government departments, local authorities, health service bodies and publicly financed organisations such as passenger transport executives are exempt.
The one main exemption applicable to small businesses is the one relating to family businesses. If your employees are close relations, (parent, child, spouse, grandchild etc.), you do not have to take out the insurance unless your family business has been incorporated into a limited company.
You can be fined up to £2500 for any day you are without the insurance. Failure to display the certificate or be able to show it to health and safety inspectors can lead to a £1000 fine.
You must be insured for at least £5 million by law but most insurers offer cover of at least £10 million. Employers Liability Insurance is generally offered as part of a package policy that includes Public Liability Insurance. Get a quote for Public & Employers Liability Insurance
As with any insurance, there will be a number of conditions attached to the policy which will be tailored to your business. Certain conditions, however, cannot be imposed. Your insurer cannot refuse to pay compensation:
- Purely because you have not provided adequate protection against injury or disease
- You cannot provide certain information to the insurer
- You have done something they told you not to do
- You haven't done something they told you to do
- You have not met any legal requirements connected to the protection of your employees
However, if you haven't complied with the health and safety measures the law requires - risk assessments, reporting accidents etc., then the insurer could end up suing you to recover the cost of compensation.
Your insurer will give you a certificate of employer's liability insurance. This must clearly state the minimum level of cover provided and the companies it covers. You must display this certificate where employees can easily read it.
Since the 1st October 2008 there has been no legal requirement for employers to keep copies of out of date certificates.
However, employers are strongly advised to keep, as far as is possible, a complete record of their employers’ liability insurance. This is because some diseases can appear decades after exposure to their cause and former or current employees may decide to make a claim against their employer for the period they were exposed to the cause of their illness.
Employers that fail to hold the necessary insurance details risk having to meet the costs of such claims themselves.
You can download a copy of the HSE's guide to Employers Liability Insurance by clicking here