Crowd safety · temporary structures · suppliers
Liability insurance for an events agency
An event agency brings hundreds or thousands of people together on a site that was empty a few days earlier. Everything standing there has been put up temporarily.
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- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een evenementenbureau.
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) covers injury and property damage that you or your staff cause to others. At an event agency that damage rarely occurs during the programme itself and almost always around setting up and breaking down and in the crowd flows: a marquee or grandstand that is not properly anchored, fencing that falls over in a pressing crowd, a cable ramp someone trips over, a forklift driving among visitors. For a defective temporary structure, Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code also Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Codealso applies, which makes the possessor of a structure liable without fault of his own.
The second feature of this work is the chain. You direct suppliers: marquee erectors, security firms, sound companies, traffic marshals, food trucks. If such an independent party makes a mistake carrying out your instructions, the injured party can hold you liable under Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code. For each event, collect your suppliers' policy schedules and certificates, check that their business activity covers the work and record who inspects which structure. Without that paperwork, your own policy carries the consequences of someone else's mistake.
What the AVB does not do is protect the event itself. If the event does not go ahead because of severe weather, a licence withdrawn or a headline act dropping out, the loss is missed turnover and costs incurred: pure financial loss and excluded. There is separate events insurancefor that, including cancellation cover. The liability side per event is explained under liability at events.
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 at an event organiser between a covered claim and an unpaid one.
Temporary structures and inspections
Grandstands, stages, marquees and trusses are often assessed on the basis of a structural calculation and a handover inspection. An insurer wants to see that these existed and that the structure was signed off before the public was allowed on it. Missing inspection documents make a claim after a collapse or a structure blowing over almost impossible to defend.
Weather protocol and evacuation
In a storm or thunderstorm it must be settled in advance who decides and what happens at which wind speed. A written emergency plan with an identifiable decision-maker is the most important evidence in this sector that you acted with care. Fines or penalty payments from the local authority remain outside cover in any event.
Volunteers and crew
Many events run on volunteers and casual staff. The duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code applies to them equally; through subsection 4 it extends to everyone working on your instructions. Arrange instruction, safety footwear during set-up and supervision for work at height, and state on your application that you work with volunteers.
Hired site, hired equipment
The site, the hall, the marquee and the sound rig are usually not yours. Damage to them falls under the care, custody and control exclusion or calls for tenants' liability cover. Draw up a condition report with photographs of grass, floors and walls beforehand, so that it is clear afterwards which damage you caused.
What does your premium depend on?
- Number of visitors per event: the main measure of crowd risk
- Type of events: a business conference weighs differently from a festival with a dance floor
- Setting up and breaking down yourself or contracting it out: this determines how much risk lands on your policy
- Inside or outside: outdoor locations bring weather and temporary structures with them
- Payroll, crew and volunteers: counts towards employers' liability
- 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 visitor suffers burns because a food truck you booked connected a gas cylinder wrongly | Yes | No |
| Your lorry damages the barrier of the neighbouring business park on the way out | Yes | No |
| An employee of the caterer falls through a stage deck and breaks an ankle | Yes | No |
| The client sets off a second venue hire against your fee because you double-booked the location | No | Yes |
| A sponsor demands its contribution back because its brand was nowhere to be seen | No | Yes |
| The LED wall from your own store falls over during set-up and is beyond repair | No | No |
Mistakes by parties you direct can land on your policy; mistakes in your own direction and planning cannot.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Do I need event insurance as well as an AVB?
Often yes. The AVB covers injury and property damage to third parties throughout the year. Event insurance addresses the event as a project: cancellation, equipment, weather and sometimes separate liability cover for those days. Anyone with only an AVB is left empty-handed if a festival is cancelled, because that loss is pure financial loss.
A visitor is injured by fencing that fell over. Who is liable?
As the organiser you have a duty to provide a safe site. If the fencing was insufficiently weighted or was put up by a supplier, you can be liable both in your own right under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and, under Article 6:171 DCC, for that supplier's mistake. The insurer investigates what happened, pays the injury claim and then seeks recovery.
Are damage to and theft of hired equipment covered?
No, not under the AVB. Hired equipment is in your care without your being the owner, so the care, custody and control exclusion applies. Hire companies do charge that damage to you. Arrange this through hirer's interest or equipment cover and check the liability provisions in the hire contract before you sign.
What if the local authority withdraws the licence?
That is not a liability loss. The costs you have already incurred and the turnover you miss are pure financial loss and fall outside the AVB. Some event policies offer limited cover for this, depending on the reason for withdrawal. To challenge the decision, legal expenses insurance is the route to take.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekeringthe main page
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering artiestenburo
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering bruiloft organisatie
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering evenementenorganisator zzp
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering dj bedrijf
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering artiest zzp
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering theatergezelschap
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