Liability insurance for a self-employed mechanic
An engineer works all day on equipment belonging to someone else. That makes the care, custody and control provision not a detail in the conditions but the subject of your whole policy.
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In brief
Every machine, installation or appliance you have your hands on is property in your care, custody and control. If you damage it during the repair, the care, custody and control exclusion operates and the AVB does not pay. In service work that is so decisive that the question is not whether you have liability insurance, but whether it includes cover for property being worked on, with what limit and what excess. Ask about that expressly before you sign.
What the AVB does do is pay for the damage around it. If an installation catches fire because a phase was connected wrongly, the damage to the workshop, the stock and the rest of the building is ordinary property damage under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. The same applies to injury: a visitor tripping over your tools or an employee struck by a machine you left running without isolation.
Three items stay outside. Carrying out your own repair again, even where the fault comes back after a week, is performance of the contract and not an insured loss. Production downtime at the client with nothing damaged is pure financial loss. And damage caused by a part you supplied yourself falls under the product liabilitysection, which has to be included separately. You insure your own tools and measuring equipment on tools insurance.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
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Business liability insurance (AVB)
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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 service work runs into
Four points that determine in repair and maintenance work who gets the bill.
The limit on property being worked on
This cover almost always has its own, lower limit than the main sum insured. If you work on installations that far exceed that limit, the policy is in fact unsuitable for your work. Assess the highest value you have in hand in an average week and set the cover accordingly.
Call-out service outside office hours
On evening and weekend shifts you work alone, often without a second pair of eyes and under time pressure. State that you run a call-out service when you apply; it is a feature of the risk. Record for each call-out what you found and what you did, because if there is a loss that is your only reconstruction.
Isolating before you start
Injury because a machine unexpectedly starts moving is the heaviest claim in this trade. Isolating and locking off is not only a safety rule but also determines whether there is wilful recklessness, because Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code excludes damage caused by reckless conduct.
What you promise the client
An undertaking about availability or repair time in a maintenance contract can end in a penalty or damages if it is exceeded. That is contractual liability and not insured. Work with your own terms of supply and have them declared applicable before the job, not only on the invoice.
What does your premium depend on?
- Turnover or days worked: the usual basis for a sole trader
- Type of installations: domestic appliances differ from process installations
- Value of property being worked on: this determines the limit you need
- Supply of parts: this calls for product liability to be included
- Working for private customers or in industry: a different size of loss per incident
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| A phase connected wrongly sets the installation alight and the stock in the warehouse is lost | Yes | No |
| A visitor trips over your tool case in the corridor of the business premises | Yes | No |
| The control cabinet you are working on at that moment is damaged beyond repair | Provided that | No |
| A relay you supplied yourself fails and the client's machine seizes up | Provided that | No |
| The fault comes back after a week and you have to carry out the repair again | No | No |
| The client sets off a day of lost production although nothing was broken | No | Yes |
In service work almost every outcome depends on the cover for property being worked on.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I wrecked a machine during the repair. Is that covered?
Not on standard public and employers' liability insurance. The machine was in your hands for treatment and therefore falls under the care, custody and control exclusion. Only with additional cover for property being worked on is such a loss paid, up to the limit that applies to it. Check that limit before you start work on heavy or expensive installations.
And the fire that arose through my mistake?
That is covered in principle. The damage to the building, the contents and the stock is damage to property other than the appliance you were working on. The machine itself stays outside cover where there is no additional care, custody and control cover. Report immediately and have the cause of the fire investigated before anything is cleared up.
Does the client have to pay me if the fault comes back?
That is a dispute about performance, not an insurance matter. Carrying out your own repair again is excluded under the provision on work carried out. What the recurring fault causes to others, water damage or injury for instance, can fall under the liability cover. Record for each visit what you replaced and why.
Am I covered under my client's insurance?
Usually not. As a self-employed person you are a party in your own right and are held liable directly. If you work for a long period under the direction and supervision of a single client, state that on your application; Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code requires an accurate picture and an incorrect declaration can affect payment under Article 7:930 DCC.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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