Shop floor · goods sold · displays
Liability insurance for a shopkeeper
In a shop the public walks in of its own accord. That moves the liability risk from your work to your floor, your shelving and the items you sell over the counter.
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- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een winkelier.
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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) covers injury and property damage you cause to others. For a shopkeeper that damage rarely arises at a customer's home and almost always on your own square metres: a customer slips on a wet floor at the entrance, a shelf unit or clothes rail tips over, a child pulls a display down, a delivery driver trips over roll cages in the stockroom. In law that runs through Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, and where there is a defect in the premises or the fixed fit-out through Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code, which makes the possessor of a structure liable without any fault being needed.
The second line runs through what you sell. If you supply an item that causes damage, product liability comes into play. With your own manufacture or import from outside the EU, the strict liability in Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code applies and you are treated as the producer yourself. Check, therefore, whether the product liability section is included; see also product liability insurance. Watch the exclusion of the product supplied itself: the consequential loss is insured, replacing the defective item and the costs of a recall are not.
Your own belongings and your turnover also fall outside the AVB. A broken shop window, stolen till money and damaged stock belong on business contents insurance for shops, a glass insurance or a money insurance. Customer data from your till system or online shop falls under cyber insurance. If you rent the premises, ask expressly for tenant's liability for fire and water damage to the premises rented.
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 on which a shop file comes unstuck more often than on the level of the sum insured.
The floor, the entrance and the cleaning regime
In rain, after a spillage or on a freshly mopped floor you are expected to warn and clear up. After a fall an insurer will ask about your cleaning schedule, warning signs and camera footage. Anyone who cannot produce those is in a weaker position in the discussion about what happened, even where the cover itself is not in issue.
Displays, advertising boards and awnings
What you put on the pavement is yours and remains your responsibility. An A-board blowing over, a sunshade coming loose or a display someone falls over leads to an injury claim; with a defective canopy or facade, Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Codealso comes into play. Municipal rules about displays are not a condition of cover, but they do count in the question of fault.
Customers' goods in your care
If you take in items for repair, alteration or ordering, that property is in your in your care without your owning it. Damage or disappearance falls under the care, custody and control exclusion and is not covered as standard. If you do want that covered, it calls for separate care, custody and control cover or a clause for third parties' property.
Helpers and holiday staff
Even as a self-employed professional you often take someone on temporarily: a holiday worker, an agency worker or a trainee. Your duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code then applies in full and, through subsection 4, to hired-in workers as well. Lifting, step stools and cutting tools in the stockroom are the usual causes here; employers' liability has to be included as a section for that.
What does your premium depend on?
- Range of goods — food, electronics and toys weigh more heavily than textiles
- Annual turnover — the usual measure in retail
- Own imports or own brand — determines whether you are regarded as the producer
- Shop floor area and footfall — more visitors means more chance of injury
- Staff and hired-in labour — payroll counts towards employers' liability
- Sum insured and excess — per claim and per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| Your shop window breaks while you are changing the display and a passer-by is injured | Yes | No |
| A holiday worker puts a dent in the neighbour's car with a roll cage | Yes | No |
| A customer has an allergic reaction to a care product made for you under your own brand | Yes | No |
| You promise a customer a discount that turns out not to exist and he claims the difference | No | No |
| You supply the wrong item and the customer misses his event as a result | No | Yes |
| An agency worker injures his back unloading a delivery | Provided that | No |
What your people or your goods cause to someone else belongs on the left; what affects the customer only financially belongs on the right.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
A customer falls in my shop. Am I always liable?
No, not automatically. There must be a hazardous situation you could have prevented, such as a wet floor without a warning or an obstacle in a walkway. The insurer assesses that and conducts the defence where the claim is unjustified; those defence costs are a substantial part of the cover.
Is a product I resold that causes damage covered?
The damage the product causes to others falls under the product liability section, if that is included. The product itself does not: the replacement value and the costs of recovery and resupply remain at your expense. On import from outside the EU you are treated as the producer under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code and the whole risk moves to you.
Does the AVB cover theft from my shop?
No. The AVB is solely about damage you cause to others, not about the loss of your own property. Theft of stock, contents or till money belongs on contents or money insurance, with its own requirements for locks and alarms. Loss of turnover after a burglary or fire falls under business interruption insurance.
Do I have to report a refurbishment or a second branch?
Yes. Changes in floor area, product range or headcount should be with the insurer. Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code attach consequences to an incorrect or incomplete disclosure, up to and including a reduced payment. Also report a loss in good time; Article 7:941 DCC requires you to do so as soon as you are reasonably aware of it.
Read more
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