Insurers are not rewriting the law. They’re looking for evidence that you’re meeting (or matching) the standards expected under LOLER and wider health and safety duties, because that’s what underpins public liability risk in blocks, schemes and supported housing.
Key takeaways
- If a lift is used by people at work (caretakers, cleaners, contractors), LOLER and PUWER apply, including periodic thorough examination and inspection.
- Even where LOLER may not apply, Section 3 duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act may still apply, and insurers may still expect similar standards for public liability.
- A LOLER thorough examination must be done by a competent person and backed by a written report with specific information, including defects and the next due date.
- Serious defects must be reported immediately to the dutyholder, and the written report may need to go to the enforcing authority.
- Planning and supervision matter too. LOLER requires lifting operations to be properly planned by a competent person, supervised, and carried out safely.
Why insurers focus on LOLER in housing stock
In housing, lifts and lifting equipment sit in high footfall spaces: cores, landings, communal areas, supported living, extra care, sheltered schemes. When something goes wrong, it’s rarely “just” a maintenance issue. It becomes a question of duty of care, defect history, and whether risks were managed so far as reasonably practicable.
Where lifts are provided in connection with an undertaking, employers and the self-employed can have responsibilities for the safety of people they do not employ, and insurers may demand similarly stringent risk management for public liability.
So insurers tend to ask for the same proof points, again and again: dates, reports, actions, closure evidence.
The legal baseline insurers build on
LOLER applies to lifting equipment used at work, and it sits alongside PUWER. HSE’sLOLER Approved Code of Practice and guidance (L113) sets out what dutyholders should do to comply, and makes clear it builds on PUWER requirements.
Two areas drive most insurance questions:
Thorough examination and reporting
A thorough examination is a systematic and detailed examination of equipment and safety-critical parts, done at specified intervals by a competent person, followed by a written report. The report must include items such as the examination date, next due date, and defects that are (or could become) dangerous.
Where serious defects are found, the competent person must report verbally immediately, then provide the written report, and a copy must also be sent to the enforcing authority.
How lifting operations are managed
LOLER isn’t just about certificates. Regulation 8 requires lifting operations to be properly planned by a competent person, appropriately supervised, and carried out safely.
In housing, that becomes relevant in places like supported living hoists, goods lifts, or any lifting operation that’s more than everyday passenger travel.
What in social housing stock is usually in scope
A quick reality check for estates teams and compliance leads:
- Passenger lifts and combined goods/passenger lifts in workplaces are subject to periodic thorough examination and inspection under LOLER and PUWER, where they’re primarily used by people at work.
- Stair lifts are subject to LOLER and PUWER when provided as work equipment for employees. Even where they are not, Section 3 duties may be discharged by maintenance, inspection and 6-monthly thorough examination.
The “used by people at work” line is the one that catches housing providers out. A communal lift used daily by contractors and caretakers is not the same risk position as a lift in a purely residential block with no work use. Either way, insurers still tend to want a defensible regime and a tidy audit trail.
What insurers typically ask for (and what good looks like)
Policies differ, so don’t treat this as a universal checklist. But in practice, insurers and risk surveyors usually want evidence that lines up with government guideline expectations.
An asset register you can stand behind
- Unique ID, location, lift type, and who controls it day to day
- Clear classification: used by people at work, lifts people, lifting accessories
- Last thorough examination date and next due date (per asset)
Why it matters: The thorough examination report states the next due date. If you cannot show due dates across the estate, you cannot show control.
Thorough examination reports that meet the standard
You should be able to produce the latest report for each relevant asset, showing:
- examination date
- next due date
- defects (including those that could become dangerous)
Those are the basics of what the written report must contain.
A clean process for defects and remedials
Insurers will look hard at what you did after the report landed.
There should be an immediate notification to the dutyholder, a written report afterwards, and a copy to the enforcing authority. You need an internal workflow that mirrors that urgency, with evidence of who approved what, and when.
Separation between maintenance and thorough examination
Maintenance keeps the asset running. Thorough examination is about safety-critical conditions and legal reporting.
Your competent person should be both independent and impartial, and it should not be the same person who undertakes routine maintenance, because they would be assessing their own work.
Proof you plan and supervise lifting operations where relevant
For any lifting operation beyond standard passenger lift use, keep:
- lifting plans or method statements
- competence and supervision records
- evidence that operations were carried out safely
That aligns with LOLER’s duty to plan, supervise and carry out lifting operations safely.
Frequencies and timing that keep coming up in audits
The “how often” question is where assurance visits get sticky.
Thorough examinations are required throughout the lifetime of the equipment, including:
- before first use unless certain conditions are met, and if assembled on site, it must be examined to ensure safe assembly
- at specified intervals during service
- after exceptional circumstances that could jeopardise safety
On intervals, the competent person can set an examination scheme, but the practical point for housing is this: you need one schedule that covers the whole estate and survives contract changes, lift replacements, and mobilisation gaps.
Running LOLER insurance compliance across a portfolio
This is where social housing is different. You’re not managing one site. You’re managing hundreds, sometimes thousands of assets, spread across tenants, contractors, managing agents and multiple lift contractors.
What tends to work:
- Decide the rule per asset type, then apply it consistently (and document the reasoning).
- Standardise report intake so every thorough examination lands against the right asset, not in inboxes.
- Track actions to closure with dates, owners, and evidence attached. If a defect is serious, it needs the “stop and fix” treatment, not a backlog ticket.
- Keep insurance and compliance aligned, so inspection schedules and remedials don’t drift from planned maintenance.
The quick test
If an insurer asked tomorrow for the last report, next due date, and defect actions for every lift in one borough, could you produce it in an hour?
That’s the practical meaning of “LOLER insurance compliance requirements” in housing: not just doing the work, but being able to prove it, fast, across the whole stock.
If you’re building an end-to-end view across your insurance inspection regime (not just LOLER), you might want to consider how software could help you to achieve this. You can read more about it on our insurance inspections page.
