Groups on the move · territorial scope · your role as organiser
Liability insurance for a guide
A guide takes people into the city, the woods or a building. The risk moves with the group, and that makes the territorial scope and your role in the travel contract decisive.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een gids.
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 your own premium with the calculator.
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
Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) covers injury and property damage to others. With a guide, almost every claim is about something happening to a participant: tripping on an uneven quayside, slipping on a wet staircase in a listed building, a collision during a cycle tour, a fall while getting on or off a boat. The question is always whether you adjusted the route and the pace to the group and whether you warned in advance of the known dangers. That assessment runs through Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and the conversation with the insurer is about that duty to warn.
The second point is your role. If you only provide the guided tour, your liability is limited to your own conduct. If you sell a package that also includes transport, admission or accommodation, you can be regarded as the organiser of a package holiday; Article 7:507 of the Dutch Civil Code makes the organiser liable for the performance of the travel services, including those of third parties. Damage caused by a carrier or an accommodation provider then ends up with you. In that case, have it recorded expressly in which capacity you are insured.
Three things fall outside the AVB. Participants' luggage, phones and cameras that you carry or keep are in your care; that engages the care, custody and control exclusion. Damage caused with a vehicle falls under the motor insurance that Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) makes compulsory, not under the AVB. And a tour that does not go ahead because of the weather, illness or a missed connection produces pure financial loss , which is excluded. For work abroad, also look at business travel insurance.
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 determine the outcome of a claim on guided tours and excursions.
Area of cover and working across the border
If you take groups abroad or Dutch-speaking travellers around another city, check whether the policy allows it. Many AVB policies have Europe as standard, with separate or excluded terms for the United States and Canada. A tour outside the area of cover is simply uninsured, however small the job.
Bicycles, boats and active programmes
Cycle tours, canoeing, climbing or a tour on horseback increase the injury risk considerably and are assessed separately by insurers. On a tour with animals, Article 6:179 of the Dutch Civil Codealso comes into play, which makes the keeper of an animal liable for the damage it causes. Report active elements in advance; they cannot be added afterwards.
Damage in listed buildings and museums
If you take a group into a church, castle or museum, the chance of damage to fragile objects is real. Such damage is insurable in itself, but the venue often sets requirements in the admission contract, such as a maximum group size and compulsory supervision. Keep to them and record the arrangements in writing.
Participant terms and warnings
Written instructions in advance about footwear, pace, traffic rules and physical demands are your most important evidence that you acted with care. A general exclusion of liability in your terms often does not hold up against consumers, but a demonstrable warning does count in the assessment of contributory negligence.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover — the usual yardstick for a sole trader
- Type of tours — a walk in the city weighs differently from a cycle or boat tour
- Group size — larger groups mean less direct supervision
- Area of cover — the Netherlands, Europe or worldwide
- Role in the booking — guide only, or organiser of the package as well
- Sum insured and excess — per claim and per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A participant trips over a threshold during your tour and breaks her wrist | Yes | No |
| You let the group walk along a jetty and someone is trapped between the boat and the quay | Yes | No |
| A coat you were looking after during the tour disappears | No | No |
| The coach company in your package causes an accident involving your participants | Provided that | No |
| A participant knocks over a display in a shop while you are showing the group round | No | No |
| Participants demand the price of the trip back because the programme differed from your description | No | Provided that |
As soon as you sell more than the guided tour itself, your role changes and with it the question of which policy responds.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
A participant falls during my tour. Am I liable?
Not automatically. A guide does not have to remove every danger, but must warn of dangers he knows about and adjust the route to the group. If you walked older people along a slippery quayside without a warning, liability is likely. The insurer assesses what happened and conducts the defence against an unfounded claim.
I drive participants myself in a minibus. What does that cover?
Damage caused with a motor vehicle belongs on the motor policy, which is compulsory under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). The AVB excludes that damage. If you regularly carry passengers for payment, report that to your motor insurer, because it can be regarded as professional passenger transport with its own conditions.
Is my participants' luggage insured?
No. As soon as you carry or look after cases or bags, you have that property in your care and the care, custody and control exclusion applies. Refer participants to their own travel insurance and state in your terms that you do not take charge of personal possessions. Separate cover for third parties' property is possible with some insurers.
What if a tour does not go ahead because of the weather?
The costs you and the participants then incur are pure financial loss and fall outside the AVB. Deal with this in your cancellation terms: when you cancel, when you postpone and what happens to the payment. Clear terms prevent more argument here than any liability cover.
Read more
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