Financial loss · home visits · client money
Liability insurance for a debt collection agency
In debt collection something is rarely broken. The claim comes from a debtor who says he was written to wrongly, or from a client who has lost his debt.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een incassobureau.
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
Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) pays for injury and damaged property suffered by others, with Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code as the basis. In a debt collection practice that is only a narrow strip of your risk: a damaged window frame or an object knocked over during a home visit, injury because a member of staff is pushed at the door, or damage in the office you rent. The rest of your working day consists of letters, files, payment arrangements and attachment proceedings, and a completely different type of loss arises there.
That other loss is pure financial loss: money someone has lost without any injury or damage being involved. A mix-up of names causing the wrong person to be written to, a claim that becomes time-barred because interruption was overlooked, an out-of-court cost item calculated wrongly, an attachment on the wrong account. Damage to someone's reputation is not property damage either. Such claims fall outside the AVB and belong on professional indemnity insurance.
Two risks call for yet another product. Sums collected that pass through a client account are money, not property; if something disappears there through a member of staff's actions, it is misappropriation and Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code excludes damage caused intentionally. There is fraud or money insurance for that. If debtor data leaks from your system, the costs of investigation, putting matters right and notification are a matter for cyber insurance. If you work with several members of staff, see also the debt collection company.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What to look out for
Four subjects that determine whether a complaint about your file becomes an insured claim.
The biggest risk is not on this policy
Almost every claim against a debt collection agency is a claim in money: costs collected in excess, proceedings taken wrongly, a deadline missed. Such pure financial loss is kept outside the door by the AVB as standard. If you take out only an AVB, you pay both the claim and the defence yourself. Assess the two covers together, therefore, and not as alternatives.
Home visits: here the AVB does do its job
If you call at the door, you come onto someone else's property. A damaged door frame, a bicycle knocked over or a garden fence driven into is property damage to a third party and covered in principle. If your employee is bitten by the debtor's dog, it is not you but the keeper of the animal who is liable under Article 6:179 of the Dutch Civil Code. Your own position follows from Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code: you must be able to show that you gave instructions about aggression, working alone and breaking off a visit.
Client money, cash and fraud
Money is not an insured item on a liability policy. If money disappears from the client account or from the cash box, the AVB does not help, even where you are liable towards your client. Alongside the intent exclusion of Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code there is the fact that your client's loss is purely financial. Record segregation of duties, the four-eyes principle and arrangements for banking cash, and insure this risk separately.
Files and equipment that are not yours
If you are given physical files, a laptop or an access device by a client, those are property in your care, custody and control and that exclusion is virtually standard. Also state on your application where your people work: working from home or at a hot desk at the client is a circumstance falling under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code, and concealing it can, through Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code lead to a lower payout or none at all.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for a self-employed person
- Type of debts: consumer collection is assessed differently from commercial collection
- Home visits and field work: work at the door brings injury and property damage with it
- Hired-in workers: they too fall under your duty of care
- Tenant's liability: depending on the office space you rent
- Sum insured and excess: you choose the limit per claim and the amount you bear yourself
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| During a home visit you knock a plant pot off the window sill onto the laminate floor | Yes | No |
| You leave a tap running in your rented office and the neighbour below suffers water damage | Yes | No |
| You attach the account of a namesake, who as a result cannot pay his rent | No | Yes |
| You miss the appeal deadline and your client's claim is finally irrecoverable | No | Yes |
| A debtor claims compensation after a telephone conversation he experienced as intimidating | No | Provided that |
| You are fined because you were not entered in the register of debt collection service providers | No | No |
Only the first two rows are typical AVB work. The rest of your file stands or falls with professional indemnity cover.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I wrote to the wrong person because of a mix-up of names.
The AVB does not come into it here. The person written to has no injury and no damaged property, but says he has lost money because of what you did. Such claims belong on professional indemnity insurance. Correct the record straight away and report the matter to your insurer as soon as you know a claim may follow.
Our client says a claim has become time-barred.
That is a professional error with a purely financial consequence: the client is out of pocket. The AVB does not come into it here. Professional indemnity insurance does, provided the claim is reported within the period of cover. Note the notification duty of Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code: you report as soon as you are reasonably aware, not only when proceedings are issued.
A member of staff is injured during a home visit. Who pays for that?
Injury to your own staff falls under the employers' liability section, if that is included. The insurer assesses whether you complied with Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code: instruction about aggression, a check-in arrangement and the rule that a visit is broken off if there is a threat. If that is missing, payment can be limited. You also have an independent claim against the keeper of a dog that bites.
We process a lot of personal data. Can that be arranged on the AVB?
No. Liability towards people whose data has leaked, and the costs of investigation, putting matters right and notification, belong on cyber insurance. Administrative fines are not insured under any liability policy, because a fine is a punishment and not compensation. Limit the risk by keeping files separate and recording access for each member of staff.
Read more
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