by constructaquote - 1 June 2016
Not sure that if have an Employment Reference Number (ERN)? Or think that you may have lost it? Read our guide on the changes made to employers legislation.
An Employee Reference Number (ERN) is a unique number given to all businesses registered as employers by HMRC. It’s made up of letters and numbers and is given to every registered business. An ERN is made up of a three digit HMRC office number and then a reference number that’s unique to the business.
If you employ someone (or are thinking of doing so) you should be registered with HMRC as an employer. If you don’t think you have an ERN, it could mean that you’re not registered. Make sure you double-check with HMRC that you are.
If you know you’re registered and can’t find it? Don’t worry – any correspondence you’ve had from HMRC relating to PAYE will have your ERN on it. Likewise, it’ll be noted on any P45’s and P60’s for both previous and current employees (if you have copies).
Once you have it, just make sure you keep your ERN safe and sound – and easily accessible. You’ll need it regularly throughout the year.
You could need your ERN for a number of reasons:
1. To provide to your insurance company to prove that you have employers liability insurance
2. To complete your end of year tax return – if you input it incorrectly or miss it out altogether, your tax return will be rejected as incomplete
3. To give to your employees if they need it to apply for tax credits
The reason why ERN’s are going to become necessary for anyone taking out Employers’ Liability insurance is to make sure that even if an employee makes a claim for damages against an employer many years after they’ve worked for them, it will be easy to check on the amount and type of insurance the employer had at the time, by using their ERN as a reference.
An independent body, the Employers’ Liability Tracing Office (ELTO) will undertake the search using a central database that includes ERN and employers’ liability insurance information to match up claimants and insurance policies. This should in essence make it much easier for everyone – insurers and claimants – to help resolve claims quickly.
For companies this will also mean that if they have to deal with a claim against them, they can prove that they had insurance in place at the time.
This guide is part of our series on employers liability insurance, for product information, links to more guides or to get a quote, visit our employers liability section here. You can also call our UK based sales team on 08081686868.
by Charlotte Houghton - 7 October 2020
by constructaquote - 6 October 2020
by Charlotte Houghton - 29 September 2020
by Charlotte Houghton - 24 September 2020
