Liability insurance for a private investigation agency
A corporate investigation agency works inside the client's business: it speaks to his staff, installs cameras in his premises and reads out his systems. Each of those three has its own exclusion.
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In brief
Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) pays for injury and property damage suffered by third parties. In corporate investigation that damage comes from the physical part of the work: fitting a camera in a warehouse and damaging pipework or a ceiling, a cable across a walkway that someone trips over, equipment you place in a production area. If you damage the item you are working on, the care, custody and control exclusionapplies: that item was in your keeping and is excluded as standard. The same arises with a server or hard disk you take away to read out.
The substantive risk lies in the interview and the report. An employee who is suspended or dismissed after your interview and is later found to have been in the right will claim salary, lost career opportunities and harm to his good name. That claim consists entirely of financial loss, for which you professional indemnity insurance is needed and not the AVB. Work, therefore, with recorded interview arrangements: the employee knows what the matter is about, may be accompanied and signs a record; applying pressure to obtain a statement makes the investigation unlawful within the meaning of Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code.
As a licensed agency under the Wet particuliere beveiligingsorganisaties en recherchebureaus (the Dutch Private Security Organisations and Detective Agencies Act) you work with screened staff and a privacy code of conduct. You are liable for the mistakes of those employees under Article 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Code, and for self-employed investigators you engage Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code may apply. See further investigation and fraud enquiries.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
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What to look out for
Four subjects that most often lead to argument in corporate investigation.
Cameras and equipment at the client's premises
Installation in someone else's building creates two risks: damage to the building and a hidden camera that does not meet the requirements. Record who gave the instruction, what the purpose was and how long the recording ran. For damage to the installation or room you are working on, separate care, custody and control cover needed.
Digital investigation in client systems
If you read out mailboxes, log files or a server, you are working in a system that is in your keeping. If data is lost or a production environment stands still, that is financial loss and possibly also care, custody and control. Agree in advance that you will work on copies and that the client holds a back-up; a cyber insurance covers the data element.
Disclosure to the wrong recipient
A report that ends up with another department, a colleague or a third party is a data breach with an immediately identifiable victim. Data subjects can rely on Article 82 of the GDPR. Work with encrypted delivery, a single point of contact and a check on the addressing before you send.
Intent and deliberately crossing the line
Posing as someone else, piggybacking on login details or entering a site without permission produces damage that falls outside the cover under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Report an incident immediately in any event: Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to notify as soon as you reasonably know that a claim may follow.
What does your premium depend on?
- Payroll and number of employees: the basis for exposure and for the employers' liability section
- Annual turnover: reflects the number and weight of the files
- Share of technical and digital investigation: working in client systems increases the care, custody and control risk
- Interviews and integrity investigations: the main source of financial loss claims
- Use of self-employed investigators: determines whether third parties must be named on the policy
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Your employee damages the neighbouring building's gutter while fitting a camera | Yes | No |
| A visitor to your client bumps into a surveillance unit you had put in the hall temporarily | Yes | No |
| Two names are mixed up in your report and the wrong employee is summarily dismissed | No | Yes |
| The hard disk you took away to read out is damaged in transit | Provided that | No |
| The client recovers the investigation costs because your file is rejected in the proceedings | No | Yes |
| A fine from the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (the Dutch data protection authority) after camera recording without a valid legal basis | No | No |
Which policy pays depends on the type of loss: injury and damaged property on the AVB, purely financial loss on the BAV.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
We damage a ceiling while fitting a camera. Is that paid?
Damage to the client's building is third-party property damage and covered in principle. The exception is the part you were actually working on: that was in your keeping and falls under the care, custody and control exclusion. For installation work in clients' buildings, separate care, custody and control cover is therefore often the first extension worth taking.
An employee wrongly accused claims compensation. Is that covered?
Not on public and employers' liability insurance. The claim consists of lost salary and harm to reputation, and so of financial loss. For that you need professional indemnity insurance. Watch the period as well: claims of this kind often come only after employment proceedings, sometimes years after your report.
Who is liable, we or the client who took the decision?
Often both, each for its own part. The employer takes the decision and bears the employment law consequences. You can be held to account for the quality and lawfulness of the investigation on which that decision rested. An indemnity from your client changes nothing in relation to the employee concerned.
Our staff sometimes work at the client's office. Is that a problem?
Not for the cover, as long as the capacity stated on the policy describes the work. Your duty of care as an employer does continue to apply at that location: Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code also applies at someone else's workplace. Assess for each assignment whether there is a risk of aggression and agree how your people are to report it.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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