Our recruitment team has specialist knowledge of the staffing industry. We work with clients to identify the risks they face, then put a programme in place to mitigate those risks – in their business and personal lives.
Who we support
Freelancers and contractors
Recruitment consultancies
Recruitment agencies
Umbrella and payroll companies
Commercial contractors
Recruitment supply chains
Back-office solution providers
We're specialists in recruitment insurance
Through our collective experience, we’ve observed many of the best and worst practices in the insurance advisory market. We’re here to challenge the status quo and aim to establish a new level of service. We’re combining the best traditions of technical advice and client centricity, with modern thinking and smart use of systems and technology to enhance the client experience and create a dynamic workplace for our team.
Challenges in your industry
The recruitment market has become more competitive than ever with recruiters facing increasing pressure to work at pace to meet client demands, whilst still finding the time to do the due diligence required to ensure compliance with ever-evolving HRMC requirements.
How we support
Recruitment firms are data-rich environments holding both sensitive personal and corporate information and payment details – and have become attractive targets for online criminal activity.
Your business performs
In the war for talent, candidate attraction and retention are high up on many firms’ agendas. Organisations today need to think holistically about their wellbeing strategy, providing a programme that centres around the four pillars of wellbeing: mental, financial, physical, and social, and which supports employees, both inside and outside of the workplace.
Our Recruitment Ecosystem
Professional Passport is independent provider of cost-effective compliance and risk management solutions, and offers unbiased, dependable advice and support to everyone involved in the human resources marketplace.
Championing Independent Work, IWORK provides many resources to help all types of independent workers, from agency workers, temps, gig workers, contractors, freelancers and the self-employed to better understand the business of working independently.
What is recruitment insurance?
From business interruption to vicarious liability cover, finding the right protection for your business can become complex when accessing the breadth of your candidate portfolio. Ensuring you have the right programme in place requires insight, experience and knowledge to ensure the assets in your business – including your people – are protected and your liabilities are ring-fenced to help you mitigate your risks.
We start by gaining a thorough understanding of your business, then we work with you to develop a proactive and innovative programme that’s fit for purpose.
Risks facing the recruitment sector
The staffing sector has become more competitive than ever. Businesses are facing increasing pressure to work at pace to meet client demands, whilst still finding the time to do the due diligence required to ensure they remain compliant with ever-evolving regulatory requirements.
Recruitment agencies are data-rich environments holding both sensitive personal and corporate information and payment details – and have become attractive targets for online criminal activity.
In the war for talent, candidate attraction and retention are high up on many firms’ agendas – including recruitment agencies! Organisations today need to think holistically about their wellbeing strategy, providing a programme that centres around the four pillars of wellbeing: mental, financial, physical, and social, and which supports employees, both inside and outside of the workplace.
For recruiters, opportunities to expand into international markets are increasingly plentiful and potentially very lucrative. Recruitment insurance requirements and regulations differ across the globe. Finding an adviser who understands the complexities of international markets is critical to ensure you are adequately protected and trade compliantly.
Increasingly, recruitment firms are entering non-standard terms with hirers. Non-standard terms can lead to you being held vicariously liable for any losses arising out of temporary workers’ actions when on placement, irrespective of the actual employment status of the person or persons being supplied. These agreements can create specific insurance requirements that need to be reviewed and assessed carefully.
Agencies and umbrella companies that supply drivers are increasingly being asked by their clients to provide cover for damage to plant and vehicles caused by temporary workers. Sourcing cover that is affordable and sustainable requires the support of experts in the sector.
Why do you need specialist recruitment insurance?
We have developed our ability to support our clients across a wide spectrum of challenges and risks to a business’s operation. Whether it be through our own in-house capabilities or via our ecosystem of aligned partners, whatever challenge you are facing, you can be sure that we are well placed to support your business’s progress towards its objectives.
As a next-generation risk advisory business we aim to support our client’s needs with a much wider range of solutions, coupled with the experience and knowledge of the drivers behind your industry and a deep understanding of your operation to enable us to build resilience in your business by:
- Challenging thinking and assumptions, bringing fresh insight to the table
- Supporting you and the business across its life-cycle: selective application of innovative diagnostic and risk control solutions from the Ecosystem we build around you
- Enabling you to perform with minimal distraction: we can even release opportunity, helping you achieve your objectives
Usual types of cover for the recruitment industry
Helping protect your business against loss of income should you not be able to trade due to an unexpected event such as a break-in, fire or flood.
There is an increasing focus on cyber risk within contract terms. Increasingly, terms put an onus on recruitment businesses to adequately protect the data they hold and have access to. Most standard recruitment policies will not provide adequate coverage for the cyber risks that businesses face in the modern age.
Agencies and umbrella companies that supply driver are increasingly being asked by their clients to purchase this cover. It is necessary when the terms make you liable under the contract for specific damage caused by the negligent acts of the driver you have supplied. Driver negligence insurance is intended to cover vehicle claim costs.
Loss of money or goods arising from the dishonest or fraudulent acts
The increasing prevalence of agencies entering non-standard terms with hirers makes this an important consideration. Non-standard terms can lead to you being held vicariously liable for any losses arising out of their actions when on placement, irrespective of the actual employment status of the person or persons being supplied. It is important that any non-standard terms are reviewed alongside your insurance policy to ensure that any increased risk is adequately covered.
Management liability insurance provides your senior management team with the protection against a range of actions brought against your company including corporate manslaughter, data breaches, environmental claims, health and safety and regulatory investigations.
Fleet management is not just about the insurance. We’ll also help you create a robust fleet risk management plan to build resilience against the challenges you face
Sometimes known as errors and omissions insurance, professional indemnity insurance for recruitment agencies can protect anyone who provides advice or professional services to a client in an event of a dispute, error, delay or breach or alleged contract.
Not every end client has in-house tax or IR35 expertise, so it is wise to seek out advice of a professional adviser and ensure you are financially protected.
In addition to the standard covers, we normally receive the most questions around the following specialist areas:
– Commercial and Property
– Overseas operations
– Credit Insurance
– Shareholder protection
– Key Person Insurance
– Employee wellbeing & benefits
Our approach to recruitment is different to most in the market
We’ve seen how the insurance sector has delivered consistently poor service and lost its personal touch. We aim to challenge the status quo and bring people back to the centre of our thinking.
At Partners&, we focus on a proposition based on partnership, advice, and consultancy.
What does this mean?
This is particularly important when you are supplying temporary workers, we aim to provide the right level of advice and education in terms of the risks you face and how together we work to best mitigate those risks and protect you against the potential liabilities that may arise.
To use our tools to improve your risk profile before presenting to insurers. Doing so increases the likelihood of acceptance, drives more favourable terms, and reduces the risk of dispute in the event of a claim between you and the insurer, and any subsequent commercial difficulty.
Our claims team is an active member of your broking team, helping with claim prevention in addition to standing shoulder to shoulder with you if the worse occurs – and our insurer partners know unequivocally that will always be our approach
We explain the insurer’s documentation and how to access our risk management partners.
To explain the process for claims notification so that we can manage your insurance programme throughout the year. We also actively encourage communication throughout the year if you need advice or assistance and to make the most of our contract review service.
With a deep understanding of cyber risk mitigation and people risks expertise in your business including key person and wellbeing advice.
To allow time to adequately review your needs, understand any changes that may have taken place in the business and produce the most accurate presentation of risk to insurers. It also guarantees you the time to make informed choices.
The increasing prevalence of agencies entering non-standard terms with hirers makes this an important consideration. These non-standard terms can lead to you being held vicariously liable for any losses arising out of their actions when on placement, irrespective of the actual employment status of the person or persons being supplied. It is important that any non-standard terms are reviewed alongside your insurance policy to ensure that any increased risk is adequately covered.
We understand the increasingly competitive nature of your marketplace. Running a business involves taking risks, and we’ll work with you to mitigate the potential impact of those risks.
The terms you enter with your hirers may be your own standard terms, they may be the clients’ own standard terms, or they may be bespoke and specific to any given contract. Insurers typically differentiate your contracts into two categories for the purpose of assessing the risk:
Standard Terms of Business are terms of business which contain an agreement that any person or entity you supply shall be under the direction, supervision, and control of your end client with regard to the responsibility for legal liability incurred.
- to such persons or entity and
- to any other party because of the acts or omissions of such persons or entity
Non-Standard Terms of Business typically means that the terms will include a liability clause that will require your insurers to provide cover in respect of any injury, damage or errors and omissions made or caused by the persons or entity you are supplying.
You should be mindful that as the scope of services businesses in the recruitment chain has broadened, the types of contracts that underpin contractual relationships have evolved. You may, for example, enter into Managed Service Agreements that include a Statement of Work document. These agreements can create specific insurance requirements that need to be reviewed and assessed carefully. If in doubt speak to your insurance partner.
Agencies and umbrella companies that supply driver are increasingly being asked by their clients to purchase this cover. It is necessary when the terms make you liable under the contract for specific damage caused by the negligent acts of the driver you have supplied. Driver negligence insurance is intended to cover vehicle claim costs.
Driver negligence insurance is not a standalone policy, it is an extension to public liability insurance, which provides cover for damage to the hirers vehicles. The intent is essentially to negate the need for your clients to claim on their own motor insurance policies for what are usually minor claims.
It does not cover third party injury or damage to their vehicles or property due to road traffic accidents. This must be covered under a separate motor policy in accordance with the law.
You only need to purchase driver negligence insurance where you have entered into an agreement where you have accepted that responsibility. Not every driver you supply will necessarily need to be covered as cover is only applicable where it is a requirement of the contract.
Driver negligence insurance is not provided by all insurance companies. Where it is available, the cover may have specific conditions in respect of the age, experience and any prior convictions incurred by the driver. An excess will be applicable to claims made under the cover. The policy will ordinarily have two limits:
Any one claim – usually either £5000 or £10,000
Any one period – usually either £30,000 or £50,000
Any Questions?
Resources
Recruitment Brochure
Our 360 Approach to Recruitment Insurance
