Insurers facing FSA sanctions over ELTO pressure brokers

Brokers under pressure to meet insurer demands for Employers’ Liability Tracing Office (ELTO) information should seek help, Biba says.

Insurers are increasingly turning the screws on brokers, demanding they supply them with employer reference numbers of their clients.

By April next year it will be mandatory for all insurers to have employer reference numbers for their policyholders.

By October next year, insurers could face FSA sanctions if they fail to get numbers for their policyholders.

Steve Foulsham, Biba technical services manager, said he sympathised with brokers who were struggling to get employer reference numbers of companies, especially those in the vSME sector.

He said Biba and IIB members could download a template letter which could then be sent off to clients. Biba also has guidance on its website.

ELTO has been running since April this year. It is a central database containing employee reference numbers of firms and their subsidiaries.

ELTO has been set up so that victims requesting compensation can access historicals of employers’ liablity policies.

Insurers and brokers have struggled to trace details of companies which have gone out of business.

Getting the company details has been important in helping ex-workers suffering from asbestos-related health problems make a claim on employers’ liability insurance.