An employers' liability quote looks like a short form and is really a set of declarations the insurer will hold you to. The figures that come back vary widely for identical payrolls, because the questions underneath are about what the people do rather than what they cost.
The declarations that drive the price
Four answers do most of the rating. The wage roll, split by category of worker. The activities those people carry out, which is where a labourer, a machine operator and an office administrator separate. The height and type of work, because falls dominate serious injury claims in several trades. And the claims history, usually over five years. A quote given on an estimated wage roll is provisional by design, and insurers reconcile it later.
Labour only subcontractors are usually in the wage roll
A subcontractor who works under your direction, with your materials, behaves like an employee in claims terms and is normally rated as one. A bona fide subcontractor with their own business and their own insurance is not, and the insurer will want the certificates to prove it. This single distinction moves quotes more than almost any other declaration in the construction trades, and it is the one most often answered optimistically at the quote stage and corrected at audit.
The statutory minimum, and why the market sits above it
The compulsory insurance legislation sets a minimum limit of indemnity per claim, and almost every policy sold in the UK market is written well above it as standard. A buyer therefore rarely has to choose the limit, which is unusual among business covers, and the comparison is mostly about price, excess and the conditions attached rather than about how much cover is bought.
After the quote: the certificate and the audit
Once cover incepts, the certificate has to be available to employees, and keeping historic certificates matters because industrial disease claims can arrive decades later. At renewal, or sometimes mid term, the insurer reconciles the estimated wage roll against the actual figure and adjusts. A business whose payroll grew during the year should expect an additional premium, and one that shrank should ask for the return rather than wait to be offered it.
Questions people ask about employers liability insurance quote
What information do I need for an employers' liability quote?
The wage roll split by type of worker, what those people actually do, the trade and any work at height, the business address, and the claims history, usually over five years.
Do subcontractors go on the employers' liability declaration?
Labour only subcontractors normally do. Bona fide subcontractors with their own cover do not, provided you can produce their certificates at audit.
Can I get a quote without exact wage figures?
Yes, on an estimate. The insurer reconciles it against actual wages later and adjusts the premium in either direction.