Directors' and officers' liability insurance through Avéro Achmea
In the agricultural sector and in club life, business owners often manage each other's organisations alongside their own work. The liability that goes with it is no smaller than at a large company.
- Several insurers compared objectively
- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
This page in another language: Nederlands
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
- We compare the offerings of several insurers
- An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
Finass acts as an intermediary for Avéro Achmea's business range, which is strongly represented among agricultural businesses, associations and owners' associations. The wider range for that last group can be found at Avéro Achmea's VvE insurance. We have no tie to this insurer: the application goes to several insurers and the best conditions determine where the policy ends up.
A director of a cooperative, association or foundation is subject to the same standard as a director of a BV: he must perform his duties properly, and if he does not, he is liable towards the legal entity under Article 2:9 of the Dutch Civil Code. Since the Dutch Management and Supervision of Legal Entities Act, these legal forms are also subject to express rules on conflicts of interest, on restricting voting rights and on what happens if directors are absent or prevented from acting.
When it comes to it it is rarely spectacular decisions that lead to a claim. It is about a supply contract signed on behalf of the cooperative without a decision of the members' meeting, about a subsidy being reclaimed because the conditions were not met, about a missed notification concerning manure or environmental rules, or about a board that entered into obligations when it was clear that the coffers were empty. In a bankruptcy, the insolvency administrator can take the same route through Articles 2:50a and 2:300a of the Dutch Civil Code as with a company.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Directors' and officers' liability in a VvE.
Independent, personal, sorted quickly
We compare your directors' and officers' liability insurance across dozens of insurers, explain where the real differences lie, and arrange the switch from start to finish — without you having to chase it yourself.
Directors' and officers' liability insurance
Compare
Get coveredWhy arrange it through Finass Verzekert?
We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
Independent
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
One fixed adviser
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
What to look out for
Four points that most often go wrong with directors who have no professional support staff.
Unpaid board service does not mean no liability
Anyone sitting on a board without payment carries the same responsibility. An indemnity in the articles only helps as long as the legal entity has money, and in a bankruptcy it does not. Check that the policy names the entire current and former group of directors, including people who resigned during the term and the heirs of a deceased director.
Recording decision-making and mandates
Most internal complaints can be traced back to a decision that is missing or not recorded: an expenditure without a mandate, a contract signed by one director alone while the articles require two signatures, or a conflict of interest that was not disclosed. Minute who decided what and who abstained. When a claim comes, that is your only hard evidence.
Accounts, annual figures and inability to pay
The accounting obligation in Article 2:10 of the Dutch Civil Code applies to an association or cooperative too. If it is not complied with, the burden of proof shifts to the board in a bankruptcy. If the organisation cannot pay wage tax or pension contributions, notify that inability to pay under Article 36 of the Dutch Tax Collection Act within the deadline, otherwise personal liability is presumed.
What this policy does not cover
Injury and property damage belong on the public and employers' liability insurance. Clean-up costs after soil contamination call for environmental damage insurance. Also excluded are: administrative fines, intentional or wilfully reckless conduct within the meaning of Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code, and claims arising from circumstances already known when the policy was taken out.
What does your premium depend on?
- Legal form: cooperative, association, foundation or company
- Number of directors and supervisory board members: including directors who have resigned, within the run-off period
- Size of the organisation: balance sheet total, turnover or number of members, depending on the legal form
- Subsidies and public funds: accountability obligations increase the risk of a reclaim
- External financing: loans involving directors personally are taken into account
- Retroactive cover: for the period before the insurance started
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
Who picks up which claim
| Situation | Directors' and officers' liability | Public and employers' liability |
|---|---|---|
| The local authority reclaims a subsidy because the association did not submit its accounts on time | Yes | No |
| A member holds you personally liable because you signed a supply contract without a decision of the members' meeting | Yes | No |
| A visitor trips over a loose cable in the clubhouse during the members' meeting and breaks his wrist | No | Yes |
| After the bankruptcy, the insolvency administrator investigates decisions dating from before the start date of the policy | Provided that | No |
| The cost of legal defence against a claim that after two years of litigation proves unfounded | Yes | No |
| A contractor pursues the cooperative over an unpaid invoice for renovating the clubhouse | No | No |
The left-hand column follows the person who manages, the right-hand column the organisation that causes the loss; anyone filling both roles needs both policies.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Our association has hardly any assets. Is that an argument for not insuring anything?
No, rather the opposite. A claim is not paid out of the association's assets but out of the directors' own, and where the coffers are empty it is precisely to them that the insolvency administrator or creditor turns. The smaller the legal entity's assets, the more real the risk that a director has to make up the difference himself.
I have just joined. Am I liable for the past as well?
For decisions taken before your appointment, in principle not, but you are liable for allowing a situation to continue that you should have corrected once you knew about it. Overdue annual accounts, an unreported inability to pay or missing insurance are the classic examples. When you join, ask for the records of recent years and set down your findings.
Does this policy also cover a dispute with a member or a tenant farmer?
A claim directed against you personally as a director falls under it, provided it concerns financial loss and not injury or property damage. Conducting proceedings about a contract or a lease is not directors' and officers' liability. For that you need a legal expenses insurance the appropriate product.
What happens if the whole board resigns?
Liability continues for the period in which you were a director, while the successors' new policy does not cover your conduct. So arrange a run-off period or have the organisation continue the cover with retroactive cover for the past. Without one of the two there is a gap at exactly the moment when a dispute is most likely.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare directors' and officers' liability insuranceThe main page
- Directors' and officers' liability insurance through Hienfeld
- Directors' and officers' liability insurance for your companyArticle 2:9 of the Dutch Civil Code, personal liability, defence costs
- Directors' and officers' liability in property and real estateArticle 2:9 of the Dutch Civil Code, private assets, claims-made