Bosses: The Good, the Bad and the Law-Breaking

According to research there are approximately five million small to medium enterprises in the UK. Out of these, 59% are registered as corporate businesses and 23.8% as sole traders. So, if these figures are right there must be about a million and a quarter businesses out there with employers liability insurance UK. Unfortunately the numbers show that there is nowhere near this amount of take-up for employers liability insurance which means only one thing: that there are a lot of law-breaking bosses out there.

Whether it's due to ignorance of the law or a deliberate attempt to save money, the fact is that any business operating without employers liability insurance is operating illegally. Not only that but they are leaving themselves open to the risk of having to shoulder the financial burden of any liability claim made by their employees that could run into millions.

The high cost of being a bad boss

The Employers Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 (note the compulsory bit) was brought in to protect the owners from claims made by employees that get injured at work. Some bosses might feel that nothing like that will happen to their employees, but failure to ensure that they have this kind of insurance not only leaves them vulnerable to claims for injuries or accidents at work, but they can actually get prosecuted and incur fines for ignoring the legislation. These can run to £2,500 for each day they have traded without employers liability insurance and even can even involve imprisonment for a maximum of 14 years. Not exactly a ‘slap on the wrist'.

Getting employers liability insurance will bring a boss in line with the law, but to be a good boss they should also get the public liability insurance that often gets sold with it. Unlike employers liability insurance, public liability insurance is not a legal requirement but would prove to be very valuable if a business comes in contact with the public, either face to face or on the roads. A good boss should find a small business insurance quote online and with lots of competition around, a good boss should be able to find a small business insurance quote that won't break the bank.

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