Birmingham Magistrates’ Court was told how the company was unable to produce a certificate of insurance during an inspection, which was part of an initiative with West Midlands Police and Birmingham City Council.
An HSE investigation following the discovery in January 2018 found that the company did not have employers’ liability insurance in place so were unable to produce a certificate. Employers’ liability insurance ensures that employers have at least the minimum level of insurance to cover against claims brought by employees that are injured at work or become ill as a result of their work.
A E Motors Birmingham Ltd Florence Street, Birmingham pleaded guilty to breaching Section 4(2)(b) of the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 and was fined £726 with costs of £557.
Speaking after the hearing HSE Inspector Karen Sweeney said: “Employers carrying out a business in the United Kingdom must have Employers’ liability insurance in place. There have been over 7,000 injuries and 33 fatalities during the past five years in motor vehicle repair shops. Should an incident have occurred at the premises the failure to have insurance would mean that employees may not get any compensation for any injuries or ill-health attributable to their work.”
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A paltry fine is hardly going to discourage businesses that do not have insurance.
The fines are probably proportionate to the size of the company, bearing in mind they have salaries to pay. Last thing the HSE/Courts want to do is see companies lay people off because of the size of the fine.
That said, we’re not dealing with a corporate manslaughter offence, so the fine will be smaller for something like this.