Migration · staff · office premises
Liability insurance for an SEO agency
An SEO agency rarely causes physical damage. The large items sit in turnover lost after a migration and in its own staff, two risks that sit on different policies.
- Several insurers compared objectively
- 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 SEO-bureau.
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
The AVB covers damage to people and property of third parties. For an agency with its own premises and a team that mainly means: visitors tripping over a cable during a client session, an employee knocking something over at a client, and damage to the rented office space through fire or water. That last section — tenant's liability — is not on every policy as standard; ask for it expressly.
The claims that this sector is really about do not fall under it. A domain migration without a watertight redirect plan after which organic traffic collapses, a noindex rule that goes live by accident, a link building approach that leads to a manual action: the client then claims lost turnover. That is pure financial loss and there is a separate policy for it: professional indemnity insurance.
The second centre of gravity is your duty of care as an employer. Under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code the working environment must be safe. With full-time screen work that comes down to adjustable chairs and desks, a break regime and an up-to-date risk inventory and evaluation. That employers' liability section is a separate choice on the AVB. The general structure of the cover is set out on hub page on public and employers' liability.
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 an SEO agency runs into in practice.
Migration losses fall outside the AVB
Loss of traffic and turnover after a restructure or platform change is a claim for money. The AVB excludes pure financial loss, however large the consequence for the client. The costs of redoing your own work — redirecting again, reindexing — are not an insured loss either but putting right your own performance.
Trainees, agency workers and juniors
Agencies work a great deal with trainees and agency workers. Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code brings those people within your duty of care, even where the contract of employment lies elsewhere. Include them in the payroll you declare. A group of workers that has not been reported can lead to argument about the premium basis in an injury claim.
The rented premises and the equipment in them
Fire or water damage to premises you rent is liability and not your own loss. Without the tenant's liability clause you stand alone there. For your own laptops, screens and network equipment you do not need an AVB but business contents insurance.
Client data and access to their systems
You have administrator access to your clients' content management systems, hosting panels and analytics accounts. An infection that spreads through your network into a client environment is a cyber incident, not an AVB loss. For that, look at cyber insurance for marketing agencies. Administrative fines, for example from the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (the Dutch data protection authority), are not insurable on any liability policy.
What does your premium depend on?
- Payroll and number of employees: the basis for the employers' liability section
- Annual turnover: the measure of the liability risk towards clients
- Share of technical SEO and migrations: work in the site itself weighs more heavily than advice
- Floor area rented and type of premises: decisive for tenants' liability
- Sum insured and excess: per claim and per insurance year
- Area of cover: clients outside Europe increase the risk
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A visitor at a client session falls over a loose floor strip in your office | Yes | No |
| A coffee machine left on causes a fire in the office premises you rent | Provided that | No |
| After a release, your client's robots. txt blocks the whole webshop for weeks | No | Yes |
| Your content team uses a product photograph without a licence and the photographer claims against the client | No | Provided that |
| An employee loses a USB stick with client data and a data breach notification follows | No | No |
| A leak in the building damages your own servers and workstations | No | No |
Tenant's liability and rights issues are separate choices; do not assume they are included as standard.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A client loses turnover after a migration we supervised. What does the AVB do?
It pays nothing here. No property was damaged and nobody was injured. This is financial detriment. Such claims belong on professional indemnity insurance, which also covers the costs of defending the claim where the agency considers the fault was not its own.
Is tenant's liability included automatically?
No, that differs from insurer to insurer. Some policies include damage to the premises rented as standard, others only under a separate clause or for an additional premium. Because fire and water damage to office premises can be substantial, this is one of the first points we check when quoting.
What if an employee reports RSI complaints?
That is an injury claim under employers' liability, provided that section is included. The insurer will investigate whether the duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code has been met. Document workplace assessments, instructions and the risk inventory and evaluation. If that is missing, your position weakens towards both the employee and the insurer.
Does the AVB cover a dispute about an unpaid invoice?
No. Liability insurance responds when someone else holds you liable, not when you want to claim something yourself. For debt collection, employment disputes and conflicts about contract terms you need legal expenses cover, for example business legal expenses insurance. Agencies come across that more often than they do injury claims.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekeringthe main page
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering webdevelopment bureau
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering online marketing bureau
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering callcenter bedrijf
- Liability insurance for a recruitment agency
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering copywriting bureau
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering ux design bureau
Similar pages
- Liability insurance for a web development agency
- Liability insurance for a call centre
- Liability insurance for an online marketing agency
- Liability insurance for a recruitment agency
- Liability insurance for a copywriting agency
- Liability insurance for a self-employed web developer
- Liability insurance for a UX design agency
- Liability insurance for an app development company