ELTO has replaced the previous voluntary Employers’ Liability Code of Practice (ELCOP) tracing service, which was in place since 1999 and helped around 20,000 claimants trace the Employers Liability (EL) insurer to pursue a claim.

The service has been introduced by the insurance industry to make it easier to search for EL insurance policies using a central database – containing all new and renewed EL insurance policies from April 2011

ELTO, is independent and has been set up to provide claimants and their representatives with quick and easy access to a database of Employers' Liability (EL) policies through an online enquiry facility, Designed to help find the insurer of their former employer, where the claimant is suffering from a disease/injury caused at work.

It is a complete electronic database of all new and renewed employers' liability insurance policies. This EL Database (ELD) improves upon the existing tracing service, which relied solely on insurers checking against their own policy records, to make it easier to find records and identify the insurer to enable claimants to pursue compensation. 

We can reassure you that the ELTO is not a compensatory body. The ELTO search is simply designed to produce details that help the ‘claimant’ and their representative continue further investigation with the appropriate insurers. The results from the search of the ELD are not proof of insurance, or proof of liability.

ELTO members (Insurance Providers) are organisations owning EL liabilities for UK employers, including active and run-off EL insurers.

ELTO has a contract with each of its members, requiring them to upload data onto the database in a specified format and within specified timescales.

In order to meet the requirements of ELTO and ELD process of capturing and transmitting EL policy data to the ELD within agreed timescales it will become a mandatory requirement for every policyholder to provide the name of the company ( and name any/all subsidiaries) and also the unique Employers Reference Number (ERN) for the same. Each organisation operating a PAYE scheme is allocated an ERN. (this is the reference number for their employees’ income tax and national insurance contributions, also commonly referred to as Employer PAYE Reference. It is included on many documents such as P45, P60, P11D and most payslips.  

Whilst this will not be mandatory until April 2012, we are looking at all renewal dates that exceed this date, to provide the necessary information, in order to comply.

If you could therefore supply us with this information, we will then advise your insurers accordingly, so they update the register on your behalf.

If you have any queries regarding this, please do not hesitate to contact Alan Jayne directly.