Working at the client's premises · care, custody and control · your own policy
Liability insurance for a self-employed worker in hospitality
Anyone working in hospitality on a self-employed basis stands in someone else's business with someone else's equipment. That client's liability insurance does not cover you.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zzp'er in de horeca.
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
As a self-employed chef, host, bartender or kitchen porter you work shifts at changing venues. Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) covers the injury and property damage that you cause: a guest who falls because of something you did, a tray of glasses that goes over someone's clothes, an oven you switch on with fire damage as a result. The misunderstanding that occurs most often in this group is that the client's policy covers you. It does not. You are not an employee. The venue can be held liable under Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code and will then recover the loss from you.
The second point is care, custody and control. You use equipment, glassware and furniture that are not yours. If you damage that property, it is damage to goods you had in your in your care, and that falls under the care, custody and control exclusion. A ruined dishwasher or a burnt-out induction hob therefore stays at your expense, even though there is an AVB. What is covered is the damage that follows from it for others: fire spreading to the rest of the building or to the neighbours. In practice that distinction decides the whole outcome.
Also stay alert to three exclusions. Your your own injury falls outside the AVB. The duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code applies between employer and employee, and you are neither. For that, look at disability insurance. Pure financial loss, such as an evening lost because you did not turn up, is excluded. And damage caused by intent is excluded as well under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. The sector context is set out on insurance for the hospitality sector.
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 go wrong for self-employed people in hospitality more often than the premium is high.
Your business activity must cover all your duties
If you run the bar one week, the kitchen the next and sometimes serve at a wedding, have all of that included. If it says only waiting duties and a fire starts while you are cooking, an insurer may take the view that this falls outside the description. Work you do regularly belongs in the policy.
What the client asks of you
More and more venues require a policy schedule before you can start, and include an indemnity in the contract for services. Such an indemnity can go beyond your liability in law, and that additional part is usually not covered. Read that provision before you sign, certainly with longer contracts.
Food you prepare
If you cook yourself, food poisoning can come back to you through product liability, even though it happened in someone else's kitchen. Check whether that section is included. The value of the dish itself and the cost of supplying it again remain excluded, as do any fines from the Dutch food safety authority (NVWA).
Report a loss yourself, even if the client does too
If the venue handles the matter with its own insurer, you should still inform your own insurer as soon as a claim looks likely. Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires timely notification. Do not admit liability and do not sign the client's claim form before your insurer has looked at the matter.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual yardstick for a sole trader
- Type of activities: kitchen work weighs differently from waiting or front of house
- Product liability included: needed as soon as you prepare or serve food yourself
- Working with your own equipment: this determines whether you need additional cover
- Number and type of clients: regular engagements differ from one-off parties and events
- 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 | Your own AVB | The client's policy |
|---|---|---|
| You spill a pan of hot gravy over a guest's arm | Yes | No |
| A guest slips on water you left standing by the bar | Yes | No |
| The venue's dishwasher runs dry because you connected it wrongly and the pump burns out | No | Provided that |
| You hit a parked car with the venue's cargo bike while collecting orders | No | Yes |
| You cut your hand open on the slicer and cannot work for two weeks | No | No |
| The venue charges you for lost turnover because you cancelled a shift | No | No |
That the venue is insured says nothing about your position: when a claim comes in, it comes back to you.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
The venue where I work has an AVB. Am I covered under it?
As a rule not. That policy covers the business and its employed staff. As a self-employed person you are a separate party; at most you are covered if that has been expressly recorded. If the venue is held liable for your mistake under Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code, it can then recover that loss from you. A policy of your own prevents that.
I drop a tray of glasses. Is that covered?
Usually not. The venue's glassware and crockery were in your care during the work, so the care, custody and control exclusion applies. Breakage also often stays below the excess. Some insurers offer limited care, custody and control cover; ask about it if you regularly work with other people's fragile items.
What if a guest is injured because of something I did?
That is the heart of the AVB. A guest scalded by a dish you drop or who falls over equipment you put down can claim medical costs and loss of income. The insurer assesses liability, pays the loss and bears the cost of defence within the sum insured.
Do I need legal expenses insurance as well?
That covers something different. An AVB pays someone else's loss and the defence against it; legal expenses insurance helps with your own disputes, such as a client who does not pay or an argument about your contract. The two covers do not overlap and are often taken out side by side.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekeringthe main page
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering cateringkok
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering barista zzp
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering kok zzp
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering cateraar zzp
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering restaurant
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering restauranthouder zzp
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