Cellar and bar · casual workers · excess
Liability insurance for a café owner
As a bar owner with no permanent staff you stand behind the bar, in the cellar and on the ladder yourself. That is precisely when it matters to know which part of that risk fits on a liability policy and which does not.
- Several insurers compared objectively
- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een caféhouder.
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.
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.
In brief
Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) pays for injury and property damage to others. For a self-employed bar owner the emphasis differs from that in a large venue: you have little or no permanent staff, but you do almost everything yourself and therefore also the work where things go wrong. The beer cellar is the most underestimated point in this. An open cellar hatch in a walkway, a steep cellar staircase and rolling kegs produce exactly the type of injury for which you are held personally liable under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code.
The second point is the technical installation. Carbon dioxide cylinders, a network of pipes through the building and refrigeration equipment in an old building create a real risk of leaks and asphyxiation. If water damage arises at the neighbours' or in the flat above, that is damage to property and belongs on your AVB. If the damage arises to the rented premises themselves, you need the tenant's liability section. Without that clause you stand alone against the landlord or the brewery. For your own fittings and dispensing system, look at business contents insurance for bars.
What the AVB never does is protect you yourself. If you break your wrist unloading a keg, there is no liable third party and no continued payment of wages. The duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code exists between employer and employee and does not apply to yourself. For that situation, look at disability insurance or a broodfonds arrangement (a Dutch mutual sick pay scheme). Also excluded are fines under the Alcohol Act, damage caused by intent under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code and loss of cash.
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 make the difference between a covered and an unpaid claim in a self-employed hospitality business.
Stand-ins and family members who help out
If a casual worker, a family member or a student works occasionally at the weekend, declare it. Formally you are then the employer or hirer and the duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Codeapplies, through subsection 4 to hired-in workers as well. A policy taken out with no staff has no employers' liability section, and injury to that stand-in then falls outside the cover.
Music, quiz nights and small performances
As soon as you put a stage, a sound system or a temporary structure in the venue, the risk profile changes. Falling speakers or a stand knocked over are damage to property and personal injury. A cancelled evening is not: that is pure financial loss and is not covered. For larger set-ups there is a separate events insurance.
The line between business and private
If you live above the venue or use the same space privately, record that in the application. After a loss an insurer looks at the capacity in which you were acting. Uncertainty about that can mean that neither your personal liability insurance nor your AVB pays out.
Reporting changes in the business
An additional terrace, longer opening hours, a kitchen or a second bar are changes in risk. Articles 7:928 and 7:930 DCC attach consequences to an incorrect or out-of-date declaration, up to and including a proportionately lower payout. One email per change avoids that conversation afterwards.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual measure for a sole trader in the hospitality trade
- Whether or not you have staff: determines whether employers' liability is needed
- Opening hours: late-night hours give a different claims picture
- Terrace or outside area: people on the public road count
- Whether the premises are rented or owned: this determines the need for tenant's liability cover
- 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 | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| A guest falls through the cellar hatch you left open while changing a keg | Yes | Yes |
| A leaking cooling pipe causes water damage in the flat above | Yes | Yes |
| That same leak damages the plasterwork and the floor of the rented premises themselves | No | Yes |
| A borrowed sound system falls off the bar during a quiz night | No | Provided that |
| A family member helping out on Saturday hurts his back rolling kegs | No | Provided that |
| You break your own wrist unloading the beer delivery | No | No |
Extended here means a policy with tenant's liability, care, custody and control and a section for people helping out.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I have no staff. Do I still need an AVB?
Yes. The main claims in a bar come from guests and from neighbours, not from staff. A fall, water damage next door or injury from a terrace screen blowing over can hit you personally. With a sole trader business there are no separate assets to protect you. You can leave out the employers' liability section as long as you really do work alone.
My brewery supplies the dispensing system. Who is liable for a leak?
That depends on ownership and the maintenance arrangements. If the system belongs to the brewery and it carries out the maintenance, a defect is more likely to lie with the supplier. If you operate the system and damage arises from incorrect use, it comes back to you. Record the maintenance arrangements in writing and keep the service reports.
Is damage to a borrowed sound system paid for?
No, not on the standard AVB. Borrowed or hired items are in your care without your being the owner, so the care, custody and control exclusion applies. Some insurers offer limited care, custody and control cover as a separate section. Without that addition you pay the owner for the repair or replacement yourself.
What happens if there is a fight between guests?
For damage guests cause one another you are in principle not liable; they settle that between themselves. That changes where you allowed a known dangerous situation to continue or served on to someone who was clearly drunk. If your own staff intervene deliberately and roughly, Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code excludes that loss.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekeringthe main page
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering restauranthouder zzp
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering cafe
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering horecabedrijf
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering barista zzp
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering koffiebar
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering restaurant
Similar pages
- Liability insurance for a self-employed restaurant owner
- Liability insurance for a café
- Liability insurance for a hospitality business
- Liability insurance for a barista
- Liability insurance for a shopkeeper
- Liability insurance for an events agency
- Liability insurance for a self-employed professional (zzp’er) in hospitality
- Liability insurance for a catering chef