Employers’ tax reference numbers for PAYE will have to be supplied to a national Employers’ Liability Database as a result of an administrative rule change on 1 April 2012.
Since last year, ELD has been collecting details of employers’ cover from brokers and insurers to make it easier for those making claims to track down the relevant company.
From this year, employers will also need to provide a specific identifier for policies relating to each employee – and the decision was taken to use the Employer Reference Number already used by tax offices.
This is the reference used by HM Revenue & Customs on many PAYE documents – it usually has three digits to identify the tax office, followed by a combination of letters and numbers (eg 083/WY12345).
Insurers and brokers have already been collecting this information as new policies have been taken out, but from now on employers will need to provide their PAYE reference at the time of taking out a new employer’s liability policy. Details of subsidiary companies will also have to be provided.
The database is being maintained by the Employers’ Liability Tracing Office, an independent body set up by insurers to meet the government’s requirements to help employees seeking redress to track down the insurers that provided cover during their working lives.
