Employers Liability Insurance

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has voiced concerns over proposals to set up an Employers’ Liability Insurance Bureau (ELIB).

Details of the scheme, which would act as a fund of last resort for employees injured at work – operating in a similar way to the Motor Insurance Bureau, have been outlined in a Department for Work and Pensions consultation paper, published today.

In response, ABI director general, Nick Starling, has stated that the Association is “opposed in principle to the proposed ELIB”.

According to Mr Starling: “It cannot be right that today’s law-abiding employers should have to pay for their potentially uninsured competitors or firms that now no longer exist, and who may not have had insurance.”

He believes such a fund could present a “serious moral hazard” by encouraging some employers to dispense with insurance or take health and safety issues less seriously, knowing that a fund of last resort would pay out.

The ABI says it will be responding in detail to the consultation, and will continue to discuss with the Government ways in helped can be extended to claimants.

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