Liability insurance for an online shop run by a self-employed professional
Anyone running an online shop from home sells in business but lives privately. It is exactly on that boundary that the gap arises: your personal liability insurance does not cover business activities.
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In brief
As soon as you sell regularly, your personal liability insurance (AVP) is no longer a safety net: it excludes damage connected with a profession or business. A customer injured by an item you supplied holds you liable in your business capacity. The AVB fills that gap and covers injury and property damage arising from your sales, including damage caused by the products you place on the market.
With dropshipping and print-on-demand you never see the items, but that does not change your position. If the supplier comes from outside the European Union, you are the Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code under producer for the Dutch buyer. The same applies if you sell under your own brand name. Keep a record of the origin of every batch, therefore, and make sure you can name a European supplier who can be held responsible; otherwise the claim stays with you.
If you keep stock at home or in a storage unit, watch three points. Damage to the rented space calls for tenant's liability. Goods you keep in consignment for someone else fall under the care, custody and control exclusion. And if you let customers collect from your home, a visitor risk arises under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code that your home insurance is not intended for. For the goods themselves, look at business contents and goods insurance.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
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Business liability insurance (AVB)
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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 have the greatest effect for an online shop without staff.
Your personal policy does not cover this
The AVP excludes damage connected with business activities. If you sell regularly, that is business, even where the shop runs alongside a job. Declare your activities correctly and fully: an incorrect disclosure touches the duty of disclosure in Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code and can limit the payment under Article 7:930 DCC.
Dropshipping does not make you risk-free
You supply, so you are the seller. On import from outside the EU you are treated as the producer under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code and strict liability applies: the buyer does not have to show fault. Record for each item the supplier, the certification and the batch numbers. That is the only defence you have.
The item supplied itself stays excluded
If a product breaks, replacing it or refunding the price is your business risk and not an insured loss. The AVB covers only what the product causes to others: fire from a charger, injury from a broken fixing part. The costs of recovering and replacing a batch also fall outside the standard cover.
Complaints about delivery belong elsewhere
A parcel not delivered, a wrong size or a complaint about your returns policy produces pure financial loss. That is excluded and is also mainly a legal dispute. For that, look at legal expenses insurance. Data breaches in your shop system belong on cyber insurance.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for a sole trader
- Type of items: electronics, food and children's products weigh more heavily
- Purchasing inside or outside the EU: determines whether you are regarded as the producer
- Stock at home or externally: storage and collection at home bring their own risks
- Sales area: supply outside Europe is often limited or excluded
- 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 | Product liability |
|---|---|---|
| A customer collects an order and falls over stacked boxes in your hallway | Yes | No |
| You damage a customer's car while loading a large parcel | Yes | No |
| A dropshipped item from outside the EU causes a short circuit and a house fire | No | Yes |
| A customer is injured by a broken fixing part on a cabinet you sold under your own brand | No | Yes |
| A supplier's consignment stock in your storage unit is damaged by a leak | No | No |
| An appliance supplied breaks after two weeks and the customer wants his money back | No | No |
Even someone who never handles the product stands at the front of the liability chain when importing from outside the EU.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I already have personal liability insurance. Is that enough?
No. That policy excludes damage connected with a profession or business, and an online shop falls under that as soon as you sell regularly. A customer's claim about a product you supplied would then be rejected. Public and employers' liability insurance fills that gap and is usually modest in size for a sole trader without staff.
With dropshipping I never touch the product. Am I liable even so?
Yes, because you are the seller towards the consumer. If the supplier comes from outside the European Union, you are treated as the producer under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code and strict liability applies. You can only pass that on if you can identify a European producer or importer who can be held responsible within a reasonable period.
Customers collect orders from my home. Does that matter?
Certainly. A visitor who falls on your drive or hurts himself on stacked boxes brings a business claim, not a private one. State that you offer collection, therefore, and consider whether the home is rented or owned. With a rented home the tenant's liability clause is worth discussing.
What if a customer says I did not deliver?
That is a contractual dispute with a money claim, and therefore pure financial loss. An AVB responds only to injury and damaged property, and there is neither here. For debt collection, defence and arguments about your general terms, business legal expenses insurance is the appropriate product. Also make sure your terms are watertight and keep proof of dispatch.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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