Injury and property damage
- Fire and explosion damage
- Damage to pipework and equipment
- Consequential loss from the plant standing idle
- Costs of legal defence
Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) for the petrochemical industry
Work on refineries, tank farms and chemical plants involves a small number of losses of very large size. Insurers therefore only accept this work subject to conditions, and those conditions determine what a quotation is worth to you.
- several insurers compared objectively
- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
This page in another language: Nederlands · Deutsch
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.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) covers legal liability for injury to people and damage to property that your business causes to third parties, usually on the basis of tort under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. In petrochemicals the amounts are rarely small: a leak after a flange is tightened incorrectly, a fire caused by grinding sparks during a shutdown or damage to a pipe run brings a plant to a standstill, and the client's consequential loss comes with it.
Just as important is employers' liability. Under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code you have a duty of care for your staff, and the burden of proof lies with you: you have to show that your instructions, supervision and protective equipment were in order. In an environment with explosion hazards, cherry pickers, confined spaces and hazardous substances that is a real risk, including for hired-in workers and self-employed professionals, because Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code counts them in.
What the AVB not covers is pure financial loss from a professional mistake — an incorrect engineering calculation or wrong inspection advice without anything being broken. For that you need professional indemnity insurance. The same applies to soil and air pollution: there is separate environmental damage insurance for that.
Independent, personal, sorted quickly
We compare your personal liability insurance (AVP) 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.
Personal liability insurance (AVP)Photo coming soon
ComparePhoto coming soon
Get coveredPhoto coming soon
What does the AVB cover in petrochemicals?
The cover consists of damage to third parties, injury to your own staff and a number of sections you have to apply for separately.
Employers' liability
Claims by your own and hired-in workers after an accident or exposure.
- Duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code
- Falls from height and confined spaces
- Exposure to hazardous substances
- Asbestos claims are excluded
Care, custody and control and completion
Sections with a lower limit of their own that are not automatically included.
- Property you work on or have in your care
- Damage after handover of your work
- Hired equipment and scaffolding
- Often with an excess for each case
What is covered
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| Fire damage to a plant caused by your work | Yes | Yes |
| Injury to one of your own fitters during a shutdown | Yes | Yes |
| The client's loss of production after that damage | Provided that | Yes |
| Damage to the pipe you are working on | No | Provided that |
| Redoing your own defective weld | No | No |
| Soil remediation after a spillage | No | No |
Which clauses, limits and excesses apply is set out in the policy conditions and on the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) you receive before taking out the policy.
What does your premium depend on?
- Turnover: the usual basis for calculation
- Nature of the work: welding, lifting, assembly or inspection
- Share of work involving naked flames: sparks and heat weigh heavily
- Number of employees: including hired-in staff and agency workers
- Care, custody and control limit: a higher limit means a higher premium
- Claims history: earlier incidents and notifications
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
- You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, risk and wishes.
- We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
- You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
- We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Why 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.
9.5New policy
9.8Claims handling
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference in this sector between a payout and a rejection.
Underwriting turns on how you work, not on your turnover
For petrochemical work insurers ask additional questions: what certification you hold, whether you work with work permits, how you arrange fire watch and follow-up checks for work with naked flames, and what part of your turnover comes from shutdowns and turnarounds. Your answers fall under the duty of disclosure in Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code. If it turns out at the time of a loss that the picture was not accurate, the insurer may reduce or refuse the payment on the basis of Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Care, custody and control is the key section here
The items you work on (a heat exchanger, a section of pipe, a fitting) are property in your care. If you damage them, that is excluded on the standard cover, while that is precisely where most losses arise. Ask for the care, custody and control section expressly, check the limit per event and make sure hired equipment, lifting gear and scaffolding are named separately. Without that section the policy only covers the consequential loss, not the damaged object itself.
What is not included
The exclusions include: repairing or replacing your own defective work, fines and penalty payments from a regulator, loss caused by intent or wilful recklessness under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code, and liability you carry only because you took it on by contract. Also, asbestos, gradual soil and air pollution and damage involving a motor vehicle under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) are excluded from the AVB as standard; environmental damage insurance and business motor insurance are needed for those.
Set the contract requirements against the policy
Clients in this sector work with their own purchasing terms, which set out sums insured, indemnities and sometimes a waiver of recourse. In principle an AVB covers only your statutory liability; if you take on more by contract than the law imposes on you, that excess falls outside the cover. So have the liability section of the contract set against the policy conditions before you sign.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Why does a quotation for petrochemical work take longer?
Because this work is not accepted as standard. The insurer assesses for each business which activities you carry out, at which sites, with how many people and under which safety regime. An additional questionnaire about work permits and fire watch often follows. Supply that information in full in one go. That saves weeks.
Is my client's production standstill covered?
If the standstill results from property damage you caused, it is consequential loss and it falls in principle under the cover. If the standstill arises without anything being damaged, for instance through a planning error or wrong advice, it is pure financial loss and the AVB does not pay.
Do I need environmental damage insurance as well as the AVB?
In this sector, almost always. The AVB does not cover the remediation of soil or water and excludes gradual pollution. Environmental damage insurance covers clean-up and remediation costs at your own site and, depending on the cover, at the site where you work. The two policies dovetail without overlapping.
Does the AVB cover damage to the flange I fitted?
No. Repairing or replacing your own work is excluded. That is a matter of breach of contract towards your client, not of tort. What is covered is the damage this causes to other property, such as fire or contamination of the surrounding equipment, provided the rest of the policy conditions allow it.
Are hired-in workers covered by my policy?
For injury to themselves, usually yes, because Article 7:658 subsection 4 of the Dutch Civil Code extends your duty of care to everyone working on your instructions. For damage they cause to third parties it depends on the policy. State the number of hired-in workers on your application, because those numbers help determine the premium and the underwriting.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare personal liability insurance (AVP)The main page
- Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) for safety expertsAVB, employers' liability, advice
- Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) for marketing agenciesAVB, work on location, staff
- Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) for software developersAVB, embedded software, staff
- Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) for mediatorsAVB, consulting room, advice
- Liability insurance for the food industryAVB, product liability, allergens
- Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) for weldersNaked flames, care, custody and control, consequential loss
- Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) and public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) for your businessAVB, BAV, employers' liability
- Public and employers' liability for work on railways and tracksRail infrastructure, cables and pipes, Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code
Read more
Also relevant
Quotation for petrochemical work
Request a quotation without obligation. We set the clauses for naked flames and care, custody and control of each insurer side by side.
Prefer to call? 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 09:00–17:00.
Claim on the road? Emergency line 06 - 55 20 40 72.
About our service
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
This page was compiled by Finass Verzekert (LinkedIn). Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.