Public liability Insurance

N

Nimers

Full Registered User
Hi all

The company I work for/contracted to as a sole trader, has just informed us (everyone who has worked for them for more than 9 months). Has to set up as a LTD company. And we all need to get public liability insurance to the value of 5,000,000 quid. Obviously this is not cheap when you first set up as a LTD company. Surely it should be down to the contract holder to cover all insurances. If not why not? It just seems to me that the company is shirking all responsibility for the blokes they "employ". Oh and the best of it is if we don't do it it's bye bye! It all seems a bit of a sham! And what's the point in calling yourself a company when your not willing to take on the responsibilities of one.

Any information advice or criticism would be welcome!
 
nimers,

first things first.. public liability insurance isn't that expensive or hard to get if you look around for it, plus you can pay for it over the course of the year normally 10 monthly installments

secondly why dont you and some of your opo's work together as one company thus sharing the cost of the insurance policy, seems to make some sense given what you say.

and your dead right pal the company you are currently working for should be taking responsability for insurance cover.

regards

premier
 
No they shouldn't. Not for subcontractor staff. Well, ok yest they could, but it is in their intrest to ensure all their subbies are insured and correctly legit, this means any come-back can be passed on, any failure in service or drop in manning is the responsibility (ultimately) of the subbie.

If you don't like it, I'd suggesr you move, or take thye above advise. It might seem harsh buts its perfect business sense.
 
Got to agree with Rupert. If you are self employed you have to have all your Insurance and DPA yourself.

On the other hand if they are your only employer or even your most frequent employer then maybe you should be empoyed by them and therefore they are liable for it all.

As for setting up as LTD I think that is going too far.
 
I cannot see any advantage or reason why they should suggest that you set up as a LTD company and think it is pure crap and the company do not know what they are talking about.

I have a feeling that they are concerned that if they continue to use the same Sole Trader 'subbies' the Taxman will see them as 'permanent staff' and ask the company to pay their tax. I have seen it before.

This happened to a client of ours in the air conditioning business because he only employed sub-contractors although they only worked for him. The Taxman said that they should all be PAYE!

The answer was simple and legal. The Director told the subbies to change from Sole Trader to a Partnership (with their wives / girlfriends) and it was sorted. The taxman could go poke himself.

I am sure that Anna from Whittaker & Co could help you out on this one.

Peter @ ISS
 
rupert said:
No they shouldn't. Not for subcontractor staff. Well, ok yest they could, but it is in their intrest to ensure all their subbies are insured and correctly legit, this means any come-back can be passed on, any failure in service or drop in manning is the responsibility (ultimately) of the subbie.

Thanks for your input its good to see an outsiders point of view!

I have worked for the company 3 years and there's guys who have been here even longer. And we have NEVER needed any kind of insurance.

I spoke to an insurance company a few days ago, and the bloke i spoke to said i would be wasting my money. The first thing my insurance company would do is ask who holds the contract for the job. Then that would automatically make them liable. How true that is i dont know thats why im here.

As for the cost yea its not extortionate, but its still money going out of my pocket every month. For something i know for a fact ill never claim on.
Click to expand...
 
Nimers,

I forgot to add, we hold insurance up to 10M and our subcontractors are covered under it. We wouldn't expect them to hold their own insurance. Its passing the buck if something goes wrong...

Peter
 
Surely as a company they need employee insurance!! If a guys coming to work for you on a job, and hes kills someone in his car, the company along with that guy are held responsible, and employees dont have to do anything about being LTD as this just protects you personal assets, anyone self employed is classed as a sole trader, I no this as im setting up myself. 5 million public liablity insnt much, im getting 10 million and im still setting up! So they should have, public liabilty insurance, employee insurance and professional imdemity insurance. Hope this helps.

Dan
 
Dan I think you are mixing a couple of angles here. The OP is not an "employee" he is a subbie, a quite considerable tax difernce from the contracting company's point of view.

While they may / could cover subbies on their policy, this sounds like (as Peter suggested) a clear case of being able to pass the buck in the unfortunate event of a claim. It might not be necessary, but playing Devil's advocate, I can see it makes business sense.

Likewise, as Dan suggested, the issues surrounding vicarious liability come into play.

We as a company require all subbies to sign a subbie contract, carry their own insurance and guarantee suitable replacements should they be commited to a task and have to pull-out. From our point of view its a back stop guarante and with the work we do and the clients we have it just forms part of our own operational continuity; so depending on the circumstances I can well understand even if it might seem a bit grey if you are on the receiving end.
 
Hi.. You can try one of the big boys AXA do Public Liability, so do most big Insurance firms. Depending on how much cover you want, you can get it for under £10 a month.. Also check out the forum there maybe some on here, ask Mally or Custom Load may steer you right.... I have mine through my bank. I hope that helps. Just remember it is down to the Company you work for to have insurance, even if you are Self- Employed or Employed it's down to them. But it is best to have your own personal accident, injury & sickness cover, just in case you are off work due to your job, then you can claim. Public Liability is a good thing to have as well, just in case you hit or cause a problem to someone or property and you end up in court, you are covered But make sure that states it in the policy. I hope this has helped. Regards Jen
 
Jenco10 said:
Public Liability is a good thing to have as well, just in case you hit or cause a problem to someone or property and you end up in court, you are covered But make sure that states it in the policy. I hope this has helped. Regards Jen
Click to expand...

Jenco,

Your joking right, if you hit someone and end up in court.... If you are found guilty the PL policy won't help you, you will lose your license and be criminally negligent!

PL policies for our profession are underwritten by a small number of providers, who brokers go to for specialist insurance.

Regards

premier


Sent from my iPhone using Close Protection World
 
Back
Top