Employer’s and public liability insurance ensure that the production is covered from the risks of being sued by third parties or employees for negligence in respect of bodily injury, death, disease, illness or property damage. The certificates of insurance should be displayed in the production office.
Employers liability insurance is compulsory. Legislation provides that insurance cover has a minimum limit of indemnity, so the latest rates should always be checked. The cover must be arranged as soon as employees are taken on, and maintained until all employees are off the payroll. The insurers usually require an ERN (employers reference number) in order to provide this cover. An ERN is given to every business that registers with HMRC as an employer. It is a unique set of letters and numbers used to identify each employer. It is often referred to on tax forms as an employer PAYE reference number.
Public liability insurance should run parallel with employers liability. The limit of indemnity selected would be very much dependent upon the studio/location facilities being utilised for filming. Also if filming is in places of great value, the indemnity limit should be raised to protect the production against catastrophic fire etc, for which they may be legally liable. As with employers liability, this insurance should be maintained from the earliest pre-production stages until the completion of all post-production activities.
