Employers Liability Insurance - A Necessary Employer and Employee Protection Scheme

All businesses are required to have employers liability (EL) insurance. This particular business insurance covers compensation costs and any legal fees incurred if an employee falls ill or gets injured at their place of work. Furthermore, employer liability insurance will also protect the employer if the employee dies at their place of work. There are few exceptions when it comes to obtaining this type of insurance; one employee operations (sole proprietor) and businesses that employ immediate families are not obligated to secure this type of liability insurance. However, if you employ anyone other yourself or immediate family members, it is mandatory for you purchase employers liability insurance by law.

USA, Britain and many other countries force a policy of mandatory employers liability insurance acquisition.

So how can this insurance benefit you, the business owner? In case your employee(s) decides to file a lawsuit against you for an accident they suffered, the medical and legal and other costs will be covered by your insurance provider.

When covered by an employers liability insurance, part or whole of the costs of a claim may be covered for you. This depends upon the factor as to who was responsible for the accident in the first place. If it was your employee himself, you don’t have to worry about the costs any further.

The punishment for not purchasing employers liability insurance is very severe. Your business will be fined heavily each day you do not have liability insurance for your employees. Furthermore, your business may be shut down entirely by health and safety regulators, in addition to heavy fines, if you fail to purchase employer liability insurance.

In addition, your liability insurance certificate has to be displayed and accessible in your place of business. Your employees have to able to see it and access it. Some other highly visible places to display a copy of your certificate is the information board of your building, or have an electronic scan of the certificate on your website.

Employers liability insurance (EL Insurance) covers only your employees. It doesn’t cover people outside your organization. So if you want to cover the costs of general public injuries (or accidents) occurring in your business premises, you would require a public liability insurance.

Employers Liability Insurance only covers employees falling ill, getting injured or death. It doesn’t cover you in case you face claims like employee termination based on faulty judgment or sexual harassment etc.

The insurance provider you get insurance coverage from must be authorized. Otherwise, you are breaching the law anyway. Make sure you take out the time to compare the costs of various insurance providers before signing up with any particular one.

Employers liability insurance is a protection for both the employee and the employer. The employee gets coverage in the event of an accident, and the employer is able to save money. This insurance plan is surely a relief.

About the author: Ben Ashfalk knows a lot about employers liability insurance and liability insurance coverage.