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 Sunderland?

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 · Sunderland

Employers liability insurance in Sunderland

Reviewed by Apex Insurance Brokers · Published 15 July 2026

Sunderland is built around one of Europe's largest car plants and its supply chain, with a growing software and business-services sector and a working port alongside, and employers' liability tracks that industrial workforce. EL is the cover that answers when work injures or sickens an employee, and in Sunderland it concentrates on the plant floor and the lines that feed it.

Where employers' liability claims come from in Sunderland

The automotive plant and its supply chain carry machinery, manual-handling and moving-vehicle exposure across large, highly automated sites. The tech and business-services employers — including substantial contact-centre operations — bring display-screen, vocal and stress claims. The port and logistics operators add lifting and plant risk. The employer carries each claim, whatever the scale of the site.

A Sunderland example

A line worker at a Sunderland automotive plant is struck by an automated guided vehicle moving components across the floor and suffers a leg injury. Employers' liability covers the compensation and the legal defence — the vehicle-and-automation exposure that large, mechanised plants carry however good the systems.

What employers' liability covers

The policy meets an employer's legal liability when a member of staff is injured or made ill by their work, and the cost of the defence, extending to former employees and to conditions that build over time. Mandatory under the 1969 Act for virtually all employers, it sets a £5m minimum against the £10m the market and major manufacturers' contracts expect, with the certificate on show for inspection.

Placing it in Sunderland with Apex

Apex holds FCA authorisation under FRN 724952, has broked since 2009, and reaches more than 30 markets including Lloyd's via wholesale. A Sunderland supplier feeding a major plant gets a named broker who can rate machinery and vehicle exposure — and meet the cover requirements the contract sets.

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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 Sunderland and the wider region.

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