Legal
06/04/2009 Employers Liability Certificates - the end of an era!
There have been some changes to the way the Employers Liability insurance certificate is displayed. The changes are part of the Department for work and pensions’ drive to reduce the administrative burden on businesses by 25%.
Your attention is also drawn to the New Insurance Rules Change set out below:
Most employers are required by the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 to insure against liability for injury or disease to their employees arising out of their employment.
Under previous legislation employers were required to display a copy of the certificate of insurance where their employees could easily read it, usually in a communal area, additionally the certificates had to be kept for a minimum of 40 years. The Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 came into force on 1 October 2008 and since then:
Employers have been allowed to alternatively display the certificate electronically e.g. as a page on their intranet or as a document in a shared folder on their network. Employers choosing this method need to ensure that arrangements are suitable where all employees have access to a computer as part of their job, therefore have reasonable access to it.
GJIS are now able to provide access to your Policy Documents which includes the Employers Liability Certificates via their website
www.gjis.co.uk. You can download copies in pdf. file format and store these on your own network.
There is no legal requirement for employers to keep copies of out-of-date certificates. However, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) says, "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".
Additional note: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) enforces the law on employers’ liability insurance. The insurance should cover at least £5 million. You can be fined up to £2500 for any day which you are without suitable insurance. If you do not appropriately display the certificate of insurance or refuse to make it available to HSE inspectors when they ask, you can be fined up to £1000.
