Employer's liability insurance

Employers' liability insurance is for people who employ staff (the cover also applies to previous staff as some illnesses can take time to show/develop). It's there to protect you and your business against any lawsuits that employees may make and any compensation awarded following an injury or illness while at work.

It could cover accidents such as:

• A member of staff falling off scaffolding and breaking a bone, needing time off work
• An office employee who trips up on a cable and breaks their wrist
• A sales assistant in a small clothing shop who falls off a step ladder and injures themselves

Employers' liability insurance isn't just there to protect staff should they become injured, but also to protect you and your business. Compensation claims could easily go in to tens of thousands, and for a small business, that could be enough to make you shut up shop, but with adequate cover in place, this needn't happen.

If you don't employ any staff, but you do run a business, you might want to read up about public liability insurance (it's there to protect the public from suffering injury or damage (including to their property) in connection with your business) to see if that's something you need.

Did you know? If you choose not to take out employers' liability insurance, you could be subject to a £2,500 fine for each day you don't have cover in place as it's typically a legal requirement, if you employ staff*.

If you're still unsure about what you might need, take a look at our small business guides.

*Correct as of September 2015 in accordance with www.gov.uk guidelines.

As well as having details about you (your name, DOB, contact telephone number etc.) and your business (company/trading name, trading address) to compare quotes you'll need the following information:

• Details of your turnover and employee wageroll
• Details of any previous claims
• Your renewal documents from your current insurer (if you have one)

Depending on the type of business you have, you might need other types of liability insurance, such as:

• Public liability insurance
• Professional indemnity
• Product liability insurance

We have a range of guides like 'do I need liability insurance' and 'what is public liability insurance' that you can take a look at to gain a better understanding of what you might need.

Remember, people working for you don’t have to be paid or have a contract to be classed as employees. They might be subcontractors, part time or on work experience.