A wedding planner carries the risk of a day that cannot be done again, and who carries the loss depends entirely on who signed the contract with the supplier.
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
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
It all starts with your role. If you contract in your own name with the venue, the caterer and the photographer and invoice the couple one total amount, you are the contractor for those services: a supplier who fails to turn up is then your non-performance. If you act as an intermediary and the couple sign themselves, your service is the advice and coordination and your liability is limited to mistakes in that. This choice determines your risk more than any section of a policy, and belongs in black and white in your confirmation of instructions.
There is also a physical risk separate from your planning. During set-up and take-down you are handling sets, string lights, high tables, flower arches and extension leads in a space where a hundred guests will soon be walking. If something falls over or someone trips, that is property damage and injury under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, and where you use hired helpers, Article 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Code applies too. Equipment you hire and manage falls under care, custody and control and is not covered without an extension.
What liability insurance never does is insure the celebration itself. Postponement, cancellation, weather and lost deposits fall outside liability. There is separate event or cancellation cover for that, which the couple take out themselves or which you can offer as a service.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The basics
Liability
AVB for property damage and injury, BAV for professional errors.
Damage to third parties
Employers' liability
Care, custody and control as an extension
Your business
Assets and continuity
Business contents, goods and lost turnover during downtime.
Business contents at replacement value as new
Goods at cost price
Business interruption or additional costs
If you employ people
Staff
Sickness absence, accidents and the traffic risk.
Continued pay for 104 weeks
Group personal accident
WEGAS for traffic risks
What is covered
Situation
AVB
BAV
Cyber
Injury to a visitor or customer
Yes
No
No
Damage to a client's property
Sometimes
No
No
Financial loss caused by an advisory or calculation error
No
Yes
No
Downtime after a ransomware attack
No
No
Yes
Data breach involving personal data
No
Sometimes
Yes
Damage to property in your care
No
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Organiser or adviser: record it before the first booking
As soon as you book in your own name, you stand between the couple and the supplier and you carry what that supplier fails to deliver. If you work as an intermediary, the couple sign themselves and your risk is limited to your coordination. Put that role in every confirmation of instructions, and stick to it consistently: arranging something yourself "just this once" for the client shifts the role for that element to you after all.
Set-up and take-down are your biggest injury risk
The hours of carrying, climbing and cabling are the hours when things go wrong. A column that topples, a loose lead, a candle too close to fabric. Work with a set-up schedule, tape cables down and have a third person walk the room before the guests come in. Where a guest is injured, what is examined is what you should reasonably have prevented. Not how busy it was.
Hired equipment falls under care, custody and control
Furniture, sound equipment, crockery and set pieces you hire and manage are property in your care. Damage to them is excluded on a standard liability policy and the hire company simply invoices you for it. Ask for care, custody and control cover with a limit that fits the most expensive day you run, and check what the hire agreement says about excess and market value.
What a liability policy does not cover here
The following are not covered: cancellation and postponement with all the deposits lost, the cost of redoing your own coordination, disappointment without demonstrable financial loss or injury, penalties from the venue, and loss arising from a guarantee you gave about the weather, guests or deliveries. Intent also remains excluded under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. So promise nothing that lies outside your control.
What does your premium depend on?
Your role in contracting. Booking in your own name weighs more heavily than acting purely as an intermediary and adviser.
Annual turnover. Supplier costs passed on can raise turnover considerably; set the rating basis accordingly.
Number of weddings and average guest numbers. More guests per event increases the chance of injury during the day.
Setting up yourself or outsourcing. Building and climbing yourself carries more risk than directing others.
Value of hired equipment. Determines the care, custody and control limit needed on the most expensive day of the year.
Working abroad. Destination weddings call for a wider territorial scope and separate underwriting.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your activities, turnover and wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
That depends on who signed. If you contracted in your own name, you fall short towards the couple and can in turn pursue the caterer. If the couple signed themselves, it is their contract and your risk is limited to whether you selected the supplier carefully and monitored the arrangements. Your confirmation of instructions is decisive here.
Is cancellation of the wedding covered?
Not on liability insurance. That covers damage you cause to someone else, not the loss of an event. Postponement because of illness, weather or a venue falling through belongs with event or cancellation cover, which the couple take out themselves. Point that out early and record in writing that you advised on that cover; if that advice is missing, it can be held against you.
A guest was injured by a falling set piece. Who is liable?
What is examined is who put the set piece up and who was managing it. If you built it yourself or had it built by a helper working under your direction, liability comes to you under Articles 6:162 and 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Code. If it was the venue or an independent supplier, it lies there. So record for each element who was responsible for putting it up and checking it.
Do I need anything besides liability cover?
Usually yes. Your own set pieces, equipment and stock are items you transport and store. Those fall under business assets or business contents cover and not under liability. If you drive a van full of equipment, transport has to be arranged too. On request we bring these elements together as separate sections on one insurance package.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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