Professional Indemnity and Legal Insurances

[mobwell]

Just looking into insurance for my limited company. Only employees are me as director (paid) plus accountant's wife as company secretary (unpaid).
I've seen conflicting reports about Employer's Liability insurance requirements. One forum told me the law recently changed and it was no longer mandatory. Other websites say it is mandatory. Does anyone know if I need it?

EDIT// Found this amendment to the Employer's Liability Act at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2004/20042882.htm

Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 and shall come into force on 28th February 2005.

Amendment of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Regulations 1998
2. In the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Regulations 1998[2], Schedule 2 (employers exempted from insurance), after paragraph 14, there is inserted: -

" (15) Any employer which is a company that has only one employee and that employee also owns fifty per cent or more of the issued share capital in that company.".

Would that cover my position? Myself as director (and contractor) + accountant's wife as mandatory company secretary (in name only)

Also I was going to purchase Legal Insurance to cover my legal costs if I was investigated by the inland revenue, but don’t know if I should apply as an individual or in the name of my Limited company. Who do the IR come after? The individual or the company?

[freshblue]

It is good business practice (imo) to carry it along with public and PI. Some Agencies will ask for it as they try to pass the risk down. Like all types of insurance may be viewed as a necessary evil and the cost of EL/PL is not great and can be claimed as a business expense. No brainer

CUK/PCG/Others EL policy will cover you and your co sec. PI would be cover you and your accountant will have own (or should!) PI cover.

Hth

[malvolio]

Mobwell - FFS stop fannying around and join the PCG. You get the Tax Investigation insurance bundled in, you get all the anti-IR35 investigation cover you're going to need with PCG Plus and they do a deal on PI/PLI/PEI that is cheaper than anything you'll get by yourself. You might even get the chance to learn about all the other things you need to run a freelance business...

[Rebecca Loos]

amazing how the insurance industry keeps coming up with new ways for you to part with your money....
if I were you, I'd also purchase insurance insurance, permie psychological damage insurance, optical mouse repetitive strain insurance, tripping over cable whilst carrying heavy CRT monitors on client site insurance, inappropriate truncate statement in Oracle database insurance, late delivery due to incompetent coworkers insurance and obviously broken coffee machine insurance
Call yourself covered

[mobwell]

Malvolio hadn't realised I was "fannying around" I only set my company up 3 days ago so it's a steep learning curve for me.
I will be joining the PCG and will almost certainly get the combined Employer's Liability Ins. etc. I just realised that being outside IR35 I have a substitition clause in my contract which means my company should get Employer Liability Ins. anyway.
Thanks everyone for the advice

PS Can anyone tell me where I could purchase Loss of Insurance Certificate Insurance?

[malvolio]

To put that in perspective, the PCG-led PI/ELI/PEI is around £200 for a one-man band via the PCG. The tax and IR35 insurances cost around £100-£150 a year, but the average IR35 investigation runs out at around £10k, which climbs to £75k if you have to go to the commissioners. Seems like a bit of a no-brainer, really, but what do I know...

BTW- yes, "fannying"! You're a contractor now, 3 days is a long time

[Lucifer Box]

Take no notice of Malvolio's attitude, Mobwell, he's the resident grumpy old man (although you ignore his advice at your peril).

You are a textbook example to most of the annoying newbies in as much as you did some research yourself and came along with specific questions. Top of the class.

[mobwell]

Thanks Lucifer Box

[Lucifer Box]

You're welcome, Mobwell. Nice to see there are still some polite young 'uns out there.