Goods outside cover · WAM · loading and unloading
Liability insurance for a self-employed courier
For a courier the main question is not what the liability policy covers, but what falls outside it: the consignment in your van and everything you cause with that van.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zzp-koerier.
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
What a courier carries is someone else's property in his care. Damage to, loss of or theft of that consignment therefore falls under the care, custody and control exclusion of the public and employers' liability insurance. Your liability as a carrier runs through the conditions of carriage and belongs on goods in transit insurance or carrier's liability cover. If you carry only your own goods for a client with whom you have no contract of carriage, own goods in transit insurance is the appropriate form. This confusion is the most common cover mistake in this trade.
The second major item lies elsewhere too. Damage you cause with the van falls under the compulsory insurance requirement of Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) and is settled through the van insurance. That applies to manoeuvring at a loading dock or reversing into a roller shutter as well. So what is left for the liability policy? Precisely what you do outside the vehicle: a pallet you let tip onto a parked car while unloading, a sack truck going through a glass frontage, a parcel falling on a receptionist's foot or a trail of drips someone slips on in a hall.
Three other claims fall outside cover. Late delivery and its consequences for the recipient are pure financial loss. Fines for overloading, parking or drivers' hours are sanctions and not compensation. And injury to yourself in a fall from a tail lift is not a third party's liability but loss of income; see the disability insurance.
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 for a self-employed courier which policy a loss belongs on.
The moment the vehicle stops being involved
As long as the damage is connected with the use of the motor vehicle, the WAMapplies. If you park the van and go into a building with a hand truck, the scope of the liability policy has begun. With damage at a loading dock that line is not always sharp. When reporting a loss, note where you were standing, whether the engine was running and exactly what you were doing.
What you agree about the consignment
If you carry under AVC or CMR conditions, your liability as a carrier is limited in extent but does exist. If you accept wider liability than those conditions in a contract with a client, that is liability accepted under contract which is excluded on almost every policy. Read that part of the contract before you sign.
Working on third parties' premises
Distribution centres, building sites and hospitals have house rules of their own: traffic directions, speed, safety footwear. If you run a roll cage into a parked forklift or damage a dock leveller, that is property damage to a third party. Failure to comply with the house rules is taken into account in the assessment; there is a reason you sign a site induction.
Report what you actually drive for
Delivering parcels is different from urgent medical consignments, valuable electronics or dangerous goods. If you carry something your policy was not issued for, the insurer can rely on Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code on the duty of disclosure and on Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code where a heavier risk was not disclosed.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for a sole trader
- Type of consignments: parcels, pallets or specialised transport
- Share of loading and unloading work: unloading by hand at third parties increases the risk
- Work on clients' premises: distribution centres and building sites count
- Area of cover: driving outside the Netherlands changes the risk
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| You hit a lift door with a roll cage and it will no longer close | Yes | Yes |
| An employee of the distribution centre is trapped because you lower the dock leveller too soon | Yes | Yes |
| While ringing the bell you pull a house's intercom off the wall | Yes | Yes |
| The roll cage you have on loan from the client is broken while with you | No | Provided that |
| A box of glassware in your consignment breaks because of the way you stacked it | No | No |
| Your van rolls off the slope while you are unloading and hits a shopfront | No | No |
Extended means a policy with care, custody and control cover. The consignment itself and damage with the vehicle stay on a transport policy and a van policy respectively.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A consignment is damaged during carriage. Who pays for that?
Not public and employers' liability insurance. The load is property in your care and falls under the care, custody and control exclusion. Your liability as a carrier is assessed under the conditions of carriage you drive under, and there is separate transport or carrier's liability cover for that. Without such a policy you bear the loss yourself.
I hit a bollard with the van at the customer's premises.
That is damage caused with a motor vehicle and falls under the compulsory insurance requirement of Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). It is settled through the liability cover of your van policy, not through public and employers' liability insurance. That applies even if you were manoeuvring at walking pace on private premises. The van remains a motor vehicle.
I drop a parcel on the foot of one of the recipient's employees.
That is injury to a third party caused outside the vehicle, and public and employers' liability insurance is intended for it. Note the name, position and circumstances straight away, and report the loss to your insurer. Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires notification as soon as you know of the event, even if liability is not yet established.
A customer loses turnover because I deliver late.
That is pure financial loss: money with no injury or damaged property. It is excluded on public and employers' liability insurance. Under AVC and CMR conditions liability for delay is moreover limited in extent, provided you drive under those conditions and have declared them applicable to the carriage.
Read more
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