Liability insurance for an online marketing agency
An agency manages the accounts and media budgets of dozens of clients at once. One mistake in the working method therefore affects not one client but the whole portfolio.
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In brief
For an agency the public and employers' liability insurance is the policy for the tangible side of the work: injury to visitors and staff, damage to the rented office, damage at a client during a workshop or pitch, and damaged equipment belonging to third parties. That is a real but limited risk. Ask expressly about the clause tenant's liability for fire and water damage to the premises you rent, and about the employers' liability section for your team.
The agency-specific risk lies in the scale. If media budget is invoiced through your agency, it is the client's money passing through your hands, and a mistake in an automated bidding rule or a template applied wrongly immediately affects several accounts. Such loss is money and not damaged property: excluded on the AVB, belonging on professional indemnity insurance. The same applies to a migration in which historic conversion data is lost.
The third point is access management. Your staff have administrator rights on the advertising, email and webshop environments of all your clients. A compromised account at your agency is therefore an incident at dozens of businesses at once. Work with named access, two-factor authentication and a leavers procedure in which rights are withdrawn immediately, and insure the residual risk on cyber insurance.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
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We compare your business liability insurance (AVB) across dozens of insurers, explain where the real differences lie, and arrange the switch from start to finish — without you having to chase it yourself.
Business liability insurance (AVB)
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Get coveredWhy arrange it through Finass Verzekert?
We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
Independent
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
One fixed adviser
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
What to look out for
Four points that determine at an agency how large an incident can become.
Media budget passed on
As soon as you advance or invoice the client's budget, every mistake immediately becomes a money claim against your agency instead of a discussion with the platform. Set out in the agreement who owns the account, who pays and up to what amount you may make adjustments without approval. Without that arrangement the size of your risk is unlimited.
Staff, work placement students and hired-in workers
Agencies work with a changing team. For the duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code it makes no difference whether someone is employed: if he works under your direction, subsection 4 applies to work placement students and freelancers as well. Screen work, home workstations and workload are the relevant subjects here, and they belong in your risk assessment.
What falls outside the cover
Excluded are pure financial loss such as advertising budget lost and turnover missed, infringement of copyright and trade mark rights in campaign material, administrative fines from regulators, third parties' equipment you have in your in your care, contractual penalties on top of liability in law, and intent (Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code).
What you report to the insurer
If you grow from execution to strategic advice, start building webshops yourself or take over clients' hosting, your risk changes materially. Work that is not stated in your described business activity is not covered. The duty of disclosure at the outset follows from Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code and the consequences of an incorrect declaration under Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: excluding media budget passed on, provided it is properly dealt with by contract
- Payroll and team size: the basis for employer's liability
- Number of client accounts under management: this determines how widely an incident spreads
- Own office or flexible space: relevant to tenants' liability
- Events and workshops on location: these increase the risk of injury and property damage
- 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 visitor to your office is injured when a wall unit comes loose | Yes | No |
| Your account manager knocks the prospect's monitor off the table during a pitch | Yes | No |
| An employee falls down the stairs in your premises and is off work for a long time | Provided that | No |
| After a migration a client's webshop disappears from the search results for weeks | No | Yes |
| The client imposes a penalty under the framework agreement because a delivery was late | No | No |
| Your own equipment is damaged by a leak in the rented office | No | No |
For the third row the employers' liability section must be expressly on your policy.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A bidding rule got out of hand at several clients at once.
That is money and not damaged property, so the AVB does not cover it. Professional indemnity insurance is intended for this. Do note how that policy deals with related errors: claims arising from the same cause are often treated as one claim, which is favourable for the excess but not for the maximum per claim.
Do we have to arrange tenants' liability separately?
Often yes. In many leases the tenant is responsible for damage to the premises, and cover for that is not always included on the AVB as standard. Ask for the clause and check what part of building services, glass and finishes is at your expense by contract before you move into premises.
A work placement student has caused damage at a client. Who is liable?
Your agency, because the client has an agreement with you and the student worked under your direction. The AVB covers the property damage at that client if you are liable under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. For injury to the student himself your duty of care under Article 7:658(4) DCC applies, even without a contract of employment.
We also build websites for clients. Does that change the policy?
Yes, because that is a different kind of work with a risk of error of its own and sometimes with hosting attached. Report it, so that the business activity described is correct. For substantive errors in that work, look at professional indemnity insurance, and for availability and security at cyber insurance.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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