Page 7 - ALG Issue 2 2016

Employers’ Liability
Chris Ryder Richardson from Shield Total Insurance explains Employers’ Liability Insurance and why it’s advisable for allotment associations.
With very few exceptions, every
employer is required by law to buy insurance that complies with the provisions of the Employers’ Liability Act. A failure to do so can result in a ne of up to £2,500 for each day such insurance is not in place.
The intention of the Employers’ Liability Act is to provide robust protection for people who may be injured in their workplace or when acting as an employee elsewhere.
Who should it cover?
The insurance must cover the association (or in unincorporated associations, the members of the governing body or others considered for legal purposes to be the employer) for claims up to £5million as a minimum. The Shield policy provides cover up to £10million.
What does it cover?
The policy must cover the association for each incident leading to injury, illness or death arising out of or in the course of the employee’s work, where an employer was in breach of his
(or her) statutory duty to the employee. Employers’ Liability Insurance only covers the person, not property, other objects or clothing.
In order to conform to the requirements of the Employers’ Liability Act, the insurance policy is limited in the exclusions
it is allowed to apply; for example, the policy cannot exclude incidents arising from war or from a nuclear event. The intended effect of the legislation is that it is much easier to succeed in
a claim as an employee than would be the case for a third
party who was injured in the same way and this is why it is the preferred route of an injured person if they can show they were an employee.
What about unpaid volunteers?
A question often asked is whether or not Employers’ Liability insurance should be bought for volunteers.
We always advise associations to buy this insurance irrespective of whether the individuals in question are unpaid volunteers or conventional employees. The problem is that the de nition of an employee can be much wider than anticipated and there have been cases where, after the event, a court has decided that a volunteer is an employee.
It is not a matter of whether PAYE is paid, or whether the volunteer is given payment; it will be assessed by ‘how much control there is over the way in which the duties were performed’. This aspect would be open to a court’s interpretation and a determination on this will be
made after the accident or injury.
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14/04/2016 10:13