At the client's home · samples and swatches · subcontractors
Liability insurance for a self-employed interior designer
As a self-employed interior designer you often work in occupied homes. Everything that can break is already there, and no one else takes the blame if something is ruined.
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- 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 interieurontwerper als zzp'er.
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
Without staff the employers' liability section falls away, but the risk that remains is far from small. You arrive at people's homes with measuring equipment, samples and sometimes a drill. A ladder against a plastered wall, a hole drilled through a pipe, a designer lamp knocked over: all property damage to a third party for which you are held liable under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. With a leak the loss quickly extends to the neighbours below.
Pay particular attention to the care, custody and control exclusion, because it affects your day-to-day practice. Fabric books, colour swatches, a borrowed designer chair or a supplier's sample are in your care without your being the owner. If such an item is damaged or disappears, the AVB is not the solution and the supplier charges it to you. Make arrangements about liability for items on loan and keep a record of which swatches arrived with you and when.
Errors in the design itself, such as wrong dimensions that mean a bespoke piece of furniture does not fit, are pure financial loss and belong on a professional indemnity insurance for self-employed professionals. If you work from home, bear in mind that your personal policy excludes business losses; see also the page about liability as a self-employed professional (zzp'er) and the hub page on the AVB.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What to look out for
Four situations in which a self-employed designer stands differently from a practice with staff.
Drilling, measuring and pipes
A hole drilled through an underfloor heating pipe or an electricity cable is the most common loss during surveys and installation. This is property damage and covered in principle, but the insurer looks at whether you used a pipe and cable detector. Where there is wilful recklessness, cover falls away under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Ask for drawings and always check by measuring.
You engage tradespeople yourself
If you engage a self-employed upholsterer, electrician or cabinetmaker and deliver the whole to the client, you are the point of contact for their work. Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code can attribute the mistake of a third party you engaged to you. Work only with parties who can show their own policy schedule and record who contracts: you or the client.
The car and transporting samples
Damage caused with or by a motor vehicle falls outside the AVB. It belongs with the motor policy, on the basis of the compulsory insurance requirement of Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). If you regularly carry samples, furniture or equipment, separate cover for property in the vehicle makes sense, certainly if you stay overnight on the road or park the car in the street.
Home office and client visits
If you receive clients at home in a showroom space, that counts as carrying on a business. Your personal liability insurance excludes that loss, and your home contents insurance usually does not cover business assets, or covers them only to a limited extent. Report the situation at home when you apply, stating whether third parties enter the space.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for a sole trader
- Described activities: advice only, or supplying and installing furniture as well
- Type of clients: private homes or commercial projects
- Engaging third parties: this affects the circle of insured persons and the risk
- Care, custody and control cover: for swatches, samples and borrowed objects
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| You put your ladder against a newly plastered wall and push a hole in it | Yes | No |
| At the final handover a mirror slips out of your hands onto the parquet floor | Yes | No |
| An upholsterer you engaged damages the neighbours' boundary fence while unloading | Provided that | No |
| The bespoke kitchen does not fit because you noted a dimension wrongly | No | Yes |
| You recommend an underfloor heating system that does not warm the room in winter | No | Yes |
| The client wants the decorating paid for because your colour advice disappoints him | No | Provided that |
What you break with your hands is a different policy from what you get wrong on your drawing.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I drilled through a water pipe at a client's home. What does the policy cover?
Damage to the pipe, to the floor and to the neighbours' belongings is property damage to third parties and falls under the AVB in principle. The insurer does look at how you worked: had you asked for drawings and used a detector? Report the loss straight away, because Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires notification as soon as you are reasonably aware of it, and limit further damage.
A borrowed display model has been damaged. Is that insured?
Usually not. Property you have in your care that belongs to someone else falls under the care, custody and control exclusion of the AVB. The supplier will pass the loss on to you. Ask for a care, custody and control clause if you regularly work with items on loan, and set out in the loan arrangement who bears the risk during transport and storage.
The bespoke piece of furniture does not fit. Who pays for that?
If the dimensional error is yours, that is a professional error. The cost of altering or replacing it is pure financial loss and falls outside the AVB. Only a professional indemnity policy picks up design errors of this kind. Limit your liability in your terms as well and have the client approve the final dimensions in writing.
My client asks for evidence of insurance. What do I send?
Send your policy schedule, which states the business activity, the limit, the territory and the period of cover. Check in particular whether the description covers installation and supervision on site and not only advice; on interior projects that difference is exactly where argument arises. If this project differs, have the description amended in advance.
Read more
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