Kitchen staff · injury to guests · premises
Liability insurance for a hospitality business
A hospitality business with staff has three sources of liability at once: the guests in the venue, the staff in the kitchen and the building it all happens in.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een horecabedrijf.
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In brief
Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) covers injury and property damage to third parties. In a hospitality business with staff, the employers' liability section is often the heaviest. Kitchens and service areas are at the top of the accident figures: hot oil, cutting equipment, wet floors, lifting crates and working under time pressure. Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code places the burden of proof with you: you must show that you had arranged instruction, safe equipment, maintenance and supervision. In a sector with many young and temporary workers that is harder than it looks, because it is precisely they who need the instruction most.
On the guest side it concerns falls, terrace furniture blowing away, a chair that gives way and illness after a meal. For the building and the fixed fittings, Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Codeapplies: as the possessor you are liable for a defective structure, even without fault of your own. If you prepare dishes yourself, the product liability section belongs on the policy, with the strict liability of Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code in the background. See also the sector page liability insurance for the hospitality sector.
Three items fall outside the AVB. Fines and penalty payments under the Dutch Licensing and Catering Act, employment legislation or licence conditions are not insurable. Guests' property in the cloakroom or in safekeeping fall under the care, custody and control exclusion. And your own loss after a fire or a breakdown is not a liability loss: there are business contents insurance and the business interruption insurancefor that. For continued payment of wages during sickness, look at sickness absence 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 on which a hospitality claim is decided in practice.
Instruction for young and temporary workers
Holiday staff, school pupils and agency workers change quickly, while the duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code applies in full and, through subsection 4, to hired-in workers as well. After a cut or a burn an insurer asks about the signed-off instruction and the risk assessment. For employees under eighteen there are also restrictions on dangerous machinery.
Terrace, facade and canopy
Parasols, screens and heaters that fall over hit passers-by and parked cars. Where a canopy or terrace floor is defective, Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Codecomes into play. Many policies set conditions about anchoring and about bringing things in when it is windy. A gas heater can fall under a separate naked flame clause fall.
Delivery and staff on the road
If you have meals delivered by your own staff, employers' liability for taking part in traffic comes into play alongside Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). The ordinary AVB usually does not cover that. The difference between the variants is set out under WEGAS and WEGAM. Arrange this for the business's scooters and electric bicycles as well.
Changes and the duty of disclosure
Adding a function room, a terrace or delivery, a refurbishment or strong growth in the payroll changes the risk. Articles 7:928 and 7:930 DCC attach consequences to an incorrect or out-of-date declaration, up to a proportionally reduced payment. Go through the details each year at renewal.
What does your premium depend on?
- Payroll: the main yardstick for employers' liability
- Annual turnover: this counts towards the guest and product risk
- Type of venue: a restaurant, hotel, snack bar or function room each has its own claims picture
- Terrace and outside area: members of the public outside the venue count as well
- Delivery: your own delivery riders bring a traffic risk with them
- 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 | Business contents and business interruption |
|---|---|---|
| A guest breaks a wrist when a chair on the terrace gives way beneath him | Yes | No |
| A kitchen porter slips on a kitchen floor with no anti-slip finish and is off work for a long time | Yes | No |
| A supplier trips over the open cellar hatch by the back door | Yes | No |
| A party falls ill from a home-made tiramisu from your kitchen | Provided that | No |
| After a kitchen fire the business is closed for six weeks and you lose turnover | No | Yes |
| The NVWA imposes a fine after a hygiene inspection | No | No |
The AVB pays what others claim from you. Your own loss after an incident runs through a different policy.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
An employee cuts himself on the slicer. What happens then?
The injury claim falls under employers' liability, provided that section is included. The insurer assesses whether you complied with Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code: was there instruction, a guard, maintenance and supervision? If not, you are liable in principle and the policy pays, but persistently poor prevention can have consequences for the premium and conditions.
Is food poisoning among guests covered?
The guests' injury claims fall under product liability, if that section is on the policy. What is not paid for is the value of the food, the cost of closure or cleaning and the loss of turnover that follows. Keep temperature records and retention samples; they are decisive in establishing the cause.
We rent our premises. What do we arrange in addition?
Ask for the tenants' liability section. That covers fire and water damage to the premises rented, for which you can be liable towards the owner. Without that clause you stand alone against the landlord and his insurer. Also check in the lease which maintenance obligations rest with you.
A guest damages the fittings. Can I claim for that?
Not on your AVB; that covers only damage you cause to others. You can hold the guest liable under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, after which his personal liability insurance may pay. If that does not work, the loss is a matter for your business contents insurance, in so far as the cause falls within it.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
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