Liability insurance for a UX design agency
A UX agency brings strangers in for user research and works with clients' prototypes and equipment. That produces two very different liabilities.
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In brief
The most underestimated risk at a design agency is the simplest: people coming into your premises. Test participants, respondents at a co-creation session, clients at a design sprint. If someone trips over a cable from the recording equipment or a whiteboard falls over, that is third-party personal injury and that is what the AVB is made for. The general explanation is set out on hub page on public and employers' liability.
The substantive risk lies outside that policy. An interface missing a confirmation step that leads to wrong orders, a design that does not meet accessibility requirements and has to be rebuilt, a flow that costs conversion: those are claims for money. The AVB has no room for pure financial loss. Those claims belong with professional indemnity insurance.
Stay alert to material that is not yoursas well. Eye trackers, test devices, hardware prototypes and pre-release equipment placed in your keeping by a client fall under the care, custody and control exclusion. And the recordings, transcripts and personal data of participants are not an AVB subject: if that material gets out, that is a case for cyber insurance for marketing agencies.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
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What to look out for
Four points that are specific to research and design work.
Visitors in your own space
For the condition of your premises and fit-out, Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code applies alongside Article 6:162 DCC, making the possessor of a defective structure liable. A loose stair tread or a badly fixed wall monitor in the test room is therefore more than a mishap. Check the walking routes, cable runs and lighting before you receive participants.
The client's prototypes and test hardware
If you are lent equipment or an unreleased device for research, that item is in your in your care. The standard AVB excludes damage to it. Arrange a care, custody and control clause or record that the risk stays with the owner, and watch for confidentiality arrangements that create separate contractual liability.
Accessibility and rebuild costs
If a design delivered does not meet agreed accessibility standards, the client will want it adjusted. Those costs of putting right your own performance are not insured on any liability policy. Set out the standards and the acceptance process in the contract, so that it is clear afterwards what was agreed.
Staff and freelancers
For your own employees, trainees and hired-in researchers your duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code applies, including subsection 4 for people who are not your employees. Screen work, long session days and carrying test set-ups are part of that. Include freelancers in the details you give the insurer.
What does your premium depend on?
- Payroll and team size: the basis for the employers' liability section
- Annual turnover: the yardstick for the risk towards clients
- Receiving visitors and test participants: the public in your space increases the injury risk
- Work with third parties' equipment: determines whether you need care, custody and control cover
- Floor area rented: counts towards tenant's 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 |
|---|---|---|
| An employee wheels a mobile whiteboard into a glass partition at the client and breaks it | Yes | No |
| A trainee injures a shoulder carrying a test set-up to a client site | Yes | No |
| The eye tracker you had on loan from a client falls off the high table | Provided that | No |
| An order flow you designed lacks a confirmation step and the client has to reverse thousands of orders | No | Yes |
| A web font from your prototype goes into production and the rights holder sends a cease-and-desist letter | No | Provided that |
| You rebuild the rejected design at your own expense | No | No |
As soon as nothing is broken and nobody is injured, the question moves from the AVB to your professional indemnity.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A test participant falls in our lab. Is that covered?
Yes, injury to a visitor is a core part of public and employers' liability insurance. The insurer will, however, assess whether the space was in order; under Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code you can be liable as the possessor of a defective structure, even where nobody is at fault. Document your safety checks.
We damaged a client's prototype. What now?
That is a care, custody and control case. Property in your keeping that you do not own falls outside the standard cover. Discuss with the client in advance who carries the risk and whether additional care, custody and control cover is available. With unique prototypes a written allocation of risk matters more than a higher policy limit.
Is loss of research data insured?
Not on the AVB. Recordings, transcripts and participants' personal data fall under cyber cover: investigation, restoration, notification and the liability towards the people concerned. An administrative fine from the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (the Dutch data protection authority) remains uninsurable; such a fine is a sanction and not compensation for loss.
Does the AVB cover a claim about a poorly converting design?
No. That is a financial disappointment without damaged property or injury and therefore pure financial loss. Professional indemnity insurance is the appropriate policy for that. Anyone who deliberately departs from what was agreed is empty-handed there too: Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code keeps intent and recklessness outside the cover.
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