Work at sea · knock-for-knock · dropped objects
Liability insurance for an offshore company
Most Dutch liability policies stop at the low water line. For work at sea the conversation therefore starts not with the premium but with whether the risk falls within the policy at all.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een offshorebedrijf.
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
Start with the area of cover. A standard AVB is written for work on land; work on or above water, on fixed installations or on the Dutch part of the continental shelf is often excluded or subject to a clause. Have it recorded in writing that your work at sea falls within cover and from what moment: leaving port, going on board or entering the installation. Without those records, the first argument after an incident is not about fault but about cover.
The second theme is contractual allocation of risk. In this sector knock-for-knock is usual: each party bears the loss to its own people and its own equipment, regardless of fault. That is a contractual arrangement, and liability arising solely from a contract is excluded on the AVB as standard. An insurer therefore has to accept that indemnities expressly. If it does not, you carry the difference between what you signed and what is insured.
Also outside cover: damage caused with or by vessels and aircraft, which belongs on its own hull and liability cover; pollution of sea water and the seabed, for which separate provisions exist; and pure financial loss such as an operator's loss of production after an unplanned shutdown. The costs of locating and recovering an object dropped into the sea are also not property damage in the classic sense and call for a separate arrangement.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What makes work at sea different
Four subjects that determine cover for an offshore company.
Falling objects
A tool or component falling from a deck or platform is the most common cause of loss in this sector. It hits people, pipework or the seabed. Insurers assess your procedures for securing tools and lifting work; if they are missing, that is the first thing looked at when a claim comes in.
Staff at remote locations
The duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code does not stop at the coast. Accommodation, transport by helicopter or crew transfer vessel, and medical provision on board are part of it. For hired-in workers subsection 4 of that article applies, while the contract often lies with a foreign agency.
The installation you are working on
A jacket, turbine, cable or pipeline is not yours but is in your hands. That is care, custody and control, and its value makes this exclusion heavier here than anywhere else. Consider for each contract whether damage to the object lies with the operator or with you, and whether that matches what your policy covers.
Projects abroad and choice of law
If you work on the British, German or Danish part of the North Sea, both the applicable law and the client's requirements change. Record for each project which area of cover it falls under and what minimum sum insured the contract prescribes.
What does your premium depend on?
- Nature of the work: inspection weighs differently from construction or diving work
- Payroll and number of offshore staff: the basis for employer's liability
- Use of your own vessels: this calls for separate marine cover alongside the AVB
- Form of contract and indemnities: knock-for-knock must have been accepted
- Territorial scope on the North Sea: different requirements apply in each country's sector
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| A crew member of the transport vessel is trapped during a transfer your gang is supervising | Yes | No |
| While laying out your cable route you strike an existing third party pipeline | Yes | No |
| Hydraulic oil from your unit leaks into the sea during work on a platform | No | No |
| Your own work vessel hits the platform's landing point while mooring | No | No |
| The operator claims the loss of production from an unplanned shutdown with nothing damaged | No | Yes |
| Your inspection report misses a crack in a weld and the structure has to be replaced after all | No | Yes |
Every outcome above applies only if the offshore working area is expressly stated on the policy.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Does an ordinary AVB cover work on a platform or wind farm?
Often not without an additional clause. Many policies limit cover to work on the mainland and exclude work on or above water. Have it confirmed in writing, therefore, that your offshore work is included, stating the area and the moment cover starts. A verbal assurance is not enough with a large claim.
Are the knock-for-knock indemnities in our contract insured?
Only if the insurer has expressly accepted them. Public and employers' liability insurance covers liability in law in principle. What you take on additionally by contract falls outside it. Submit the contract conditions before signing, therefore. The difference between indemnities signed and liability insured is the biggest exposure in this sector.
What if an object falls into the sea and has to be recovered?
The costs of locating and recovering it are not damage to property in the usual sense and therefore do not automatically fall within cover. Some insurers have a separate section for this with its own limit. Discuss it in advance, because the operator will place those costs with you under the contract.
What about pollution of the sea water?
Pollution is usually limited on public and employers' liability insurance to sudden and unforeseen cases, and gradual pollution is excluded. There are separate environmental covers for clean-up and removal. With oil and chemical discharges from ships there are moreover liability regimes of their own, separate from your business policy.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
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