ÎÞÂëÌìÌÃ

In April 2012, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the financial sector’s regulatory body, introduced new rules regarding compulsory information that insurers and intermediaries must collect from employers when arranging employers’ liability (EL) insurance.

Employers’ Liability (EL) insurance protects employers against their liability arising from illness or personal injury to employees resulting from workplace conditions or practices. This type of insurance was made compulsory under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969. It effectively means that employers need to purchase EL insurance in order to trade legally.

What is changing?

All members who have been issued with insurance policies via the ÎÞÂëÌìÌà are now required to include their employers reference numbers (ERN) on their renewal forms.

This is because insurers and intermediaries are now required to collect this information in order to help employees trace their former employer’s EL insurer, should they need to make a claim for illness or injury at work.

This applies to all settings where there are employees and volunteers carrying out any activities on behalf of the group, whether a pre-school, nursery, baby and toddler group, children’s centre or playgroup.

What is an Employers Reference Number?

Each organisation operating a PAYE scheme is allocated an ERN. This is the reference number for their employees’ income tax and national insurance contributions and is commonly referred to as Employer PAYE Reference.

ERNs are unique and no single ERN is used by more than one employer. It is used as a unique identifier for companies on the Employers’ Liability Database: this is a database built and maintained by the Employers Liability Tracing Office (ELTO) which contains all new and renewed EL insurance policies from April 2011. Because ERNs are unique, they enable any Employers’ Liability Database searches to be streamlined.

Where can I find my ERN?

The ERN can be found on many documents including P45, P60 and P11 forms, as well as many payslips. ERNs will normally begin with three numbers (representing the tax office area the employer falls into) followed by a forward slash and then a combination of letters and numbers, e.g.083/WY12345.

On the HMRC’s tax return website, the slash is not shown. However, it does appear on printed documents like the P45 and P60.

What do I need to do now?

If you have received your ÎÞÂëÌìÌà renewal form, but have not yet sent it back, please make sure that you enter your ERN number on the form.

If you have not yet received your renewal form for 2012, this will be sent out in the usual way. Again, please make sure that you enter your ERN number on the form and return it to the Insurance and Membership team.

If you have sent your renewal form back already but not entered your ERN, you should contact the Insurance and Membership team straight away with this information at T: 020 7697 2595 E:.

You should also contact the Insurance and Membership team if you are exempt because of any of the following:

• You have no paid staff
• You are under the threshold for paying tax and national insurance
• You are in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man

This new data will be collected by the ÎÞÂëÌìÌà Insurance and Membership Team and entered onto ELTO’s Employers’ Liability Database.

It is very important that this information is submitted when requested, as there is a risk that insurers will not provide cover without it. Members who do not supply this information will be contacted by the Insurance and Membership team, so that it can be given.

More information is available via the ELTO website: