Do I need EL if I'm a sole trader with no staff?

No — EL is only required if you employ others.

What about my partner working in the business?

If your partner is an employee (even informally), EL is usually needed.

£5m is the legal minimum. £10m is commercial standard.

How much does EL cost in Kettering?

Employers' liability is rated on who you employ and what they do — wage roll, headcount, the trades involved, and how much of the work is on site, at height or around plant — together with the limit and excess you choose and your claims record. Two firms of the same size can price very differently, so we quote the actual risk rather than publish an average that would mislead at least one of them.

Employers liability · Kettering

Employers liability insurance in Kettering

Reviewed by Apex Insurance Brokers · Published 15 July 2026

Kettering carries a footwear and leather-goods heritage into specialist manufacturing, set alongside a logistics role on the Midlands network and a retail centre, and employers' liability follows that workforce. EL answers when an employee is injured or made ill by their work, and in Kettering the claims come mostly off the production floor.

Where employers' liability claims come from in Kettering

Footwear and leather manufacturers carry cutting- and pressing-machine exposure, alongside the adhesives and solvents that cause skin and respiratory conditions. Their showrooms and workshops mix production with visitors. Logistics operators bring forklift and lifting risk, and retail its everyday claims. The employer answers for each.

A Kettering example

A worker at a Kettering footwear manufacturer suffers a serious hand injury on a leather-cutting press when a guard is bypassed to keep the line moving. Employers' liability covers the compensation and the legal defence — the machinery exposure that production work carries whenever pace is put ahead of guarding.

What employers' liability covers

When work injures a member of staff or makes them ill, this cover pays the compensation and the legal defence, and it continues to answer for former employees and for the slow skin and lung conditions that adhesives and solvents can cause. A legal duty since 1969, it carries a £5m minimum and a £10m market standard, certificate available for inspection.

Placing it in Kettering with Apex

Apex holds FCA authorisation (firm reference 724952) and has broked since 2009, reaching 30-plus markets and Lloyd's by wholesale. A Kettering manufacturer gets machinery and occupational-disease exposure placed by a named broker, not a scheme built for a quieter trade.

Speak to a Kettering commercial broker

Get a considered quote from Apex

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Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm reference number 724952. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. Trading address: QCS, 53 Queen Charlotte Street, Bristol BS1 4HQ · Serving businesses in Kettering and the wider region.

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Get the right commercial cover, placed by a named broker

Tell us about your business and we’ll place it on the specialist market — or leave your number and a named broker calls you back, usually the same working day.

Get a commercial quote → or call 0117 325 0027