Frequently Asked Questions

This insurance provides protection against the costs of damages and legal fees should any of your employees suffer injury or illness at work through your fault or negligence.

You are legally required to hold Employers Liability insurance if you employ people under a contract of service or apprenticeship. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) can impose fines of up to £2,500 per day for each day you do not hold cover where required. A definition of an employee could be, a) they are under a contract of service, b) you deduct National Insurance and Income Tax from their salary, c) you control when, where and how they work, and d) they cannot employ a substitute when they are unable to work.

When you take out this insurance, a Certificate of Employers Liability Insurance will be issued which must be clearly displayed where it can be easily read by employees. You are also obliged to produce this certificate to any HSE inspector on request. Failure to correctly display or produce this certificate can result in fines of up to £1,000.

It is a legal requirement that a complete and continuous record of your Employers Liability insurances are maintained and copies of your Employers Liability Certificate are kept for a minimum of 40 years as some illnesses or incidents may take years or even decades to materialise.

If your business is not a limited company, you are the only employee (sole trader) or you only employ close family members, then you do not need compulsory Employers Liability cover.

Limited companies with only one employee owning a minimum of 50% of the issued share capital of the company (partnership) also do not require compulsory Employers Liability insurance.

Many businesses do however arrange Employers Liability insurance even where it is not compulsory because of the financial security it provides.

This insurance provides protection against any third party, individual or business, being awarded damages because you or your company have caused injury or damage to them or their property or premises. This will also cover any related legal fees, costs and expenses. This is normally available in conjunction with Products Liability and sometimes jointly referred to as Third Party Liability.

There are extensions of cover available under Public and Products Liability that may not usually be included under a standard Public and Products Liability insurance policy; these could include Professional Advice, Failure to Perform or Efficacy cover, Fidelity or Dishonesty of Employees cover, Defective Workmanship or Guarantee, Financial Loss and the Loss of Customer Keys.

Whilst this cover is not compulsory, some clients may require evidence of cover from you before allowing you to carry out any work as this insurance demonstrates your means to address any damage or injury caused to them or their property in the course of your work. Most security industry inspectorate bodies will require evidence of this cover to satisfy their own membership criteria.

This cover is normally only provided in conjunction with Public Liability insurance and provides protection against any damages awarded against you as a result of damage or injury caused by a product you have manufactured, sold or supplied. This is normally only available in conjunction with Public Liability and sometimes jointly referred to as Third Party Liability.

As with Public Liability, there are extensions of cover available that may not usually be included under a standard Public and Products Liability insurance policy; these could include Failure to Perform or Efficacy cover, Fidelity or Dishonesty of Employees cover, Defective Workmanship or Guarantee, Financial Loss and the Loss of Customer Keys.

You have a legal responsibility for any damage or injury caused by any products you sell or supply even if you are not the manufacturer. This can be where; a) your company name is on the product, b) your company repairs, refurbishes, alters or installs the product, c) it was imported from outside the EEC, or d) the manufacturer cannot clearly be identified or has gone out of business.

This cover is not compulsory but again, some clients may require evidence of cover from you before allowing you to carry out any work. Most inspectorate bodies will require evidence of this cover to satisfy their own membership criteria.

This is automatically provided under the Public Liability section of the policy and defined as ‘advice given as part of an overall contract to install, maintain, service and/or repair that does not incur a separate fee’. This provides protection against any third party, individual or business, being awarded damages because the advice given to them by you or your company resulted in injury, loss or damage to them or their property as long as the advice given was part of a contract to install, maintain, service and/or repair.

If you do give advice for a separate fee or carry out risk assessments, system design, surveys or provide training you will need to consider arranging Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Professional indemnity (or P I Insurance) provides cover for your business legal liabilities including costs and expenses in the event of a third party, individual or business, taking legal action against you for loss or damage they have suffered as a result of the advice you gave them in a professional capacity, not forming part of an overall contract to install, maintain, repair, etc. A proposal form is generally required prior to obtaining a quotation for this insurance.

This type of insurance is compulsory for certain professions such as Doctors, Solicitors, Financial Advisors, Architects, etc. If you give professional advice by way of carrying out risk assessments, surveys, system designing, consultancy or training that is not included in, or part of an overall contract to install, maintain, etc and incurs a separate fee or charge, then you have an exposure for Professional Indemnity. SISS provide a standard free limit of £150,000. Higher limits of indemnity are available under a separate policy.

Any advice, design or specification given in conjunction with an installation, will be included as Professional Advice (See above).

This cover is included in the Public and Products liability sections of the policy and is usually not automatically covered under a standard Third Party liability policy. This provides protection for any loss, damage or injury being sustained by your client should the product / system you install fail to fulfil its intended purpose or fail to operate.

Evidence of Efficacy Insurance is required by the leading inspectorate bodies within the Fire & Security industry to meet their membership criteria. It is therefore important to check that, if you are currently a member, or considering inspectorate membership, this cover is specifically mentioned as being included under your insurance policy. Efficacy insurance is not compulsory for non-members but is strongly recommended to ensure the correct level of protection. The SISS policy provides this cover as standard.

Rules have been introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority which requires insurers and brokers to collect additional information from their clients. This information will be used by employees to help trace their former employer’s EL insurer should they need to make a claim for illness or injury at work. Insurers will upload your ERN to the Employers’ Liability Database (ELD) along with your EL policy information. This enables anyone with a legitimate need to quickly identify the policy concerned and start the claims process as appropriate. It is important for employers to note that the ERN is not collected by insurers or brokers for any tax purposes, nor can anyone search and retrieve your ERN from the database; it is used purely for matching an employee’s search to the insurance policy that covers the period of injury or illness.

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Financial Loss is a pecuniary loss, cost or expense not occasioned by injury or loss of or damage to property or pollution and contamination and provides cover in respect of all sums which you may become legally liable to pay as damages and claimants costs and expenses for accidental Financial Loss in connection with the business during the Period of Insurance. This is a measurable monetary loss suffered by a third party resulting from your negligence or failure to fulfil your professional obligations.

This cover is not compulsory, however to ensure a high level of protection it is certainly strongly recommended. SISS provide a standard free limit of £150,000 for Financial Loss

Commercial Legal Expenses insurance provides protection for Legal Costs and Expenses up to £100,000 and includes helpline, advice and support services for a range of business law, contract, employment and tax issues available 365 days a year.

Whilst this cover is optional it represents great value protection and access to a range of legal and professional services that may help to protect your business & provides cover for any legal costs &/or associated fees arising from employment disputes (including compensation awards), legal defence, property protection (including bodily injury), statutory license protection, contract disputes, tax enquiries (including compliance & VAT disputes). Protection includes access to invaluable free helpline services available 24 hours a day all year round providing legal advice, tax advice, counselling services and business support services such as DAS business law and Employment Manual.

This provides protection against losses arising from the loss of a customer’s keys whilst in your custody including consequential loss suffered by the customer following the loss arising from either a) their inability to gain access to their premises, or, b) the misuse of keys by any person other than an Employee of the Insured. Keys must be coded and kept in a locked safe place, with the code details kept locked away separately from the storage area.

Loss of Customers Keys protection is particularly relevant if you hold any keys on behalf of your clients. Whilst this is not compulsory, it is strongly recommended. SISS provide a standard free limit of £25,000 but higher limits are available.

This covers loss or damage to powered or non-powered hand held tools belonging to, leased or hired to you or your employees, including loss or damage to stock, items &/or products during transit to or from site.

Items are not covered whilst unattended unless contained; within a locked vehicle with all security devices in force, all windows and other openings closed and items not left on general display within the vehicle, or; within a locked storage unit &/or building.

The policy excludes breakdown, wear, tear or gradual deterioration, deliberate loss, mysterious disappearance, consequential loss or legal liability and 'ride on' &/or self-propelled tools, plant or equipment.

Yes we can. If you trade from a separate commercial property; office, shop or trading unit, SISS can provide very competitive quotes to protect buildings, contents, stock, plant, machinery, business interruption, money & goods in transit etc.

Yes we can. SISS can provide a specialist home insurance package that can include business equipment, contents, stock, money and business interruption for installers that trade from their own homes.

SISS use a reputable third party premium finance company to arrange monthly premium instalments on premiums in excess of £450. These are arranged over a 10 month period and are subject to an interest charge of 6.75%.

It is extremely important that you notify SISS as soon as you become aware of any circumstances that could give rise to a claim being made under your policy. This would include all written or verbal allegations whether formal or informal. Please keep accurate records of any conversations with complainants including telephone notes, dates, times and what was discussed etc. You must forward all details and correspondence to SISS without responding to the complaint or allegation yourself. The claim will be dealt with by insurers who will respond on your behalf.