Small business · stand-in staff · tenant's interest
Liability insurance for a self-employed restaurant owner
As a restaurant owner without permanent staff you are in the kitchen and in the dining room yourself. The policy then has to cover something different from a business with twenty people on the payroll.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zelfstandige restauranthouder.
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.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) pays for injury and property damage that others suffer through your actions. In a business you run yourself the emphasis is on what you do: a plate that goes over a guest, a guest who follows you into the kitchen and slips, a dish served that was not sound. If you prepare food yourself, the product liability section belongs on the policy. The strict liability under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code means that working carefully is not in itself a defence.
The point self-employed owners most often miss is help that is not called staff. A stand-in on a Friday evening, a student washing up, a partner who helps out, a trainee from the catering college: under Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code your duty of care also covers people who are not your employees. Without the employers' liability section you stand alone as soon as someone injures themselves at the fryer or the slicer. State the hours worked by stand-ins when you apply, therefore.
What stays outside the cover in any event is your own your own injury: if you become unfit for work, that is a matter for disability insurance and not for the AVB. Also excluded is damage to your own contents and, through the care, custody and control exclusion, damage to hired equipment in your keeping, such as a beer dispensing system or a leased chiller cabinet. See further liability insurance for the hospitality sector.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What to look out for
Four points that cause problems particularly in a business without a permanent team.
Stand-ins and family in the kitchen
Anyone who helps out falls under your duty of care, even without a contract of employment. State the extent of that help when you apply. A policy taken out on the basis of 'no staff' gives no cover if someone lends a hand every week. The same arises with a trainee, who needs instruction and supervision that must be set down on paper.
The premises rented and the installations
For fire and water damage to the premises you rent you need tenant's liability; that is not included as standard. For defects in the structure itself, such as a loose stair rail or a falling canopy, Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code points to the possessor. Record what you maintain as a tenant and what the owner does.
Delivering yourself or offering takeaway
If you drive around on a scooter or in a van yourself, motor damage is a matter for the WAM and not for the AVB. Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) requires every motor vehicle to be insured; damage arising with that vehicle is excluded on the AVB. For staff on the road, cover under WEGAS or WEGAM is the subject.
Your turnover is not someone else's loss
If the business closes after an incident, you carry the lost margin yourself. The AVB has no cover for your own business interruption loss and Article 7:960 of the Dutch Civil Code prevents you receiving more than the loss suffered. For standstill there is business interruption insurance, with an indemnity period that fits the time repairs take.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the basis for calculating the premium
- Whether or not you have staff: stand-ins and family members who help out count as well
- Number of seats: reflects the size of the public risk
- Delivery in-house: brings road risk into the business
- Whether the premises are rented or owned: this determines the need for tenant's liability cover
- 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 | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| A guest has a tray of hot soup spilled over them | Yes | Yes |
| A stand-in on a Friday evening burns his forearm at the fryer | Provided that | Yes |
| The hired beer dispensing system is damaged beyond repair after running dry | No | Provided that |
| Water damage to the premises you rent from a tap left running in the wash-up area | No | Provided that |
| Your delivery scooter hits a cyclist | No | No |
| A supplier damages the facade of your premises while unloading | No | No |
Extended here means a policy with employers' liability, care, custody and control and tenant's liability included; losses you suffer yourself stay outside both.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I have no staff. Do I need an AVB?
Yes, because the cover is mainly about guests and neighbours. A fall in the restaurant, a dish that causes injury or fire damage to the neighbours' premises are losses you pay yourself if you are not insured. Besides, almost every business uses a stand-in from time to time, and then your duty of care under Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code applies after all.
I cut myself and cannot work for three weeks. Does the policy pay for that?
No. Liability insurance pays for other people's losses, not for your own injury or loss of income. For that there is disability insurance (AOV) or a mutual scheme such as a broodfonds. In a business that depends on one person, that is often the more important of the two policies, because being off work stops turnover immediately.
The brewery's dispensing system leaks and damages the floor. Who pays?
That depends on who manages and maintains the installation. If the equipment belongs to the brewery and fails through a defect, you hold the supplier liable. If you damage the installation yourself, you run into the care, custody and control exclusion, because that item was in your keeping. Record the maintenance arrangements in writing; that determines the argument.
I hire the premises out now and then for private parties. Do I have to report that?
Yes. Private hire, live music or a dance floor change the risk the insurer assessed. Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code requires full disclosure when you take out the policy, and most policies also contain a duty to report changes during the term. If you do not, Article 7:930 DCC can limit the payment.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
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