Bicycles supplied · the shop floor · test rides
Liability insurance for a bicycle shop
A bicycle shop sells means of transport that customers take onto the road. The risk therefore turns on what you supply, not only on what happens in the shop.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een fietsenwinkel.
The calculator and the quote form below are in Dutch. Prefer to do this in English? Email info@finassverzekert. nl or call 072 - 509 24 56 and we will take it from there.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
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- 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.
In brief
If you sell bicycles that you import yourself or have made under your own brand, you count under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code as the producer and carry strict liability for a defective product. Even if you only resell, an injured party can come to you where the producer is outside the European Union or cannot be traced. A frame that breaks or a battery that causes a fire in a customer's home is then your file; see also product liability insurance.
What consistently remains outside cover is the the product itself. The replacement bicycle, the credit note and the cost of a recall are not insured losses but the consequence of a defective delivery. Only the damage the defective product causes to others falls within the policy. With battery fires that distinction is the whole conversation: not the burnt-out bicycle, but the customer's burnt-out shed.
Then there is the shop itself. A customer falling over a display or a loose mat falls under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code; if you own the premises, liability as the possessor of a structure under Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Codealso applies. For your mechanics the duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Codeapplies: lifting cargo bikes, working with compressed air and handling batteries. Your own stock and fittings belong on business contents insurance for bicycle shops.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What to look out for
Four points that determine at a bicycle shop whether a claim falls within cover.
Your position as an importer
If you bring bicycles or batteries in directly from a country outside the EU, the product liability of Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code shifts to you. Record who you buy from, keep CE documentation and type approvals, and check whether your supplier can be held to account and is insured. In an injury claim that paperwork is the first thing requested.
Test rides and hire
An ordinary e-bike remains a bicycle, but a speed pedelec is a moped and falls under the compulsory insurance requirement of Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). Damage caused with one is excluded under the AVB. If you hire bicycles out to tourists or businesses, report that activity separately; insurers assess hire differently from sales.
What is structurally excluded
Outside cover are: the product supplied itself and the cost of a recall, customers' bicycles left for repair or storage (property in your care, custody and control), damage caused with a motor vehicle, and fines or penalty payments. A customer claiming to have paid too much is claiming financial loss and therefore falls outside this policy as well.
Batteries in the shop and workshop
Almost every insurer sets conditions on charging and storing lithium batteries: a separate or fire-resistant room, no unsupervised charging outside working hours, and a procedure for damaged batteries. If that clause is not complied with, cover for that fire falls away. Include the requirements in your working instructions and check them periodically.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover and sales mix: e-bikes, cargo bikes and speed pedelecs weigh more heavily
- Own imports or own brand: determines whether you are regarded as the producer
- Payroll and number of engineers: the basis for the employers' liability section
- Secondary activities: hire, lease broking or storage are looked at separately
- Fire prevention around batteries: the charging area, cabinets and detection affect acceptance
- Sum insured and excess: per claim and per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| An employee lowers a cargo bike off the lift onto a customer's car | Yes | No |
| A wrongly fitted fork breaks shortly after delivery and the buyer is injured | Yes | No |
| The advertising board outside your shopfront blows over onto a parked scooter | Yes | No |
| A mechanic loses a finger to an unguarded bench machine | Yes | No |
| A customer demands a new bicycle because the frame cracked within a year | No | No |
| A leasing partner claims for missed journeys because you delivered a company fleet late | No | Yes |
What your product does to others is insurable. The product itself and the consequences for a customer's turnover are not.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A battery we sold causes a fire at the customer's home. Who pays?
The customer's household insurer pays his loss first and then seeks recovery from the party that put the defective product into circulation. If you are the importer, that claim lands with you under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code. The fire damage to the house can be covered; replacing the bicycle and the battery itself is not, because that concerns the product supplied.
Are the costs of a recall covered under the policy?
No, not on ordinary public and employers' liability insurance. Tracing, retrieving, replacing or modifying a batch of bicycles are your own costs, not third parties' losses. There are separate recall covers for that, whose conditions differ greatly from insurer to insurer. Only the damage the defective bicycles caused to others falls within the liability cover.
A customer trips in the shop. What should I do?
Record straight away what was standing there, what state the floor was in and whether there were witnesses, and take photographs of the situation. Liability is assessed under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and, where the premises are defective, under Article 6:174 DCC as well. Do not admit liability and report the matter to your insurer; Article 7:941 DCC requires timely notification.
Is a customer's bicycle standing in the workshop insured?
Not under the liability policy, because that bicycle is property in your care. You can include theft of or damage to customers' bicycles on goods or business contents cover, with requirements about locking up, alarms and record keeping. Keep separate records of which bicycles came in when and at what value.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
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