Liability insurance for a self-employed crane operator
As a self-employed operator you usually work a crane that is not yours, on a site that is not yours. That makes the care, custody and control exclusion and the hired-in labour clause the two provisions that make your policy worth having.
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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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In brief
You operate the client's or a hire company's equipment. Everything that goes wrong splits into two categories. Damage to the crane you are operating is damage to property in your care: the care, custody and control exclusion. Damage to everything outside it - the facade hit, the paving damaged, the colleague struck by a swinging load - is ordinary property damage and injury, and the AVB is meant.
If you work regularly under the direction and supervision of the client, in insurance terms you count as hired-in labour. Many policies have a separate clause for that, and without it an insurer can argue that you were acting not as an independent contractor but as a hired-in worker. State on your application how your work is actually arranged. An incorrect or incomplete declaration engages Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code and can lead to a reduction or rejection when a loss occurs.
Also watch what you sign. Subcontracting and hire conditions regularly contain an indemnity or penalty clause under which you take on more than the law imposes on you. Liability arising solely from a contract is excluded on the AVB. So is your own injury: if you fall off the crane, this policy offers nothing and you are dependent on disability insurance or personal accident cover.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' 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 watch as an operator
Four subjects that work differently for a self-employed operator than for a crane company.
The machine you operate
If you run the boom into a lamp post, the post is covered and the crane is not. A hire company will charge that own damage to you, usually through the excess in the hire contract. Ask in advance, therefore, what own-damage cover applies to the crane and what amount remains at the operator's expense.
Certificate and lifting plan
A valid personal certificate and working in accordance with the lifting plan are not a formality but a policy condition. If you depart from the plan because it is quicker on site, the argument shifts from liability to wilful recklessness, and that affects cover directly.
Who is your employer on paper
If you are injured yourself, you can hold the party hiring you in liable under Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code, which also applies to people carrying out work outside an employment relationship in the course of his business. That is, however, a claim you have to bring and win. It is not an income provision. Do not rely on it as a substitute for cover of your own.
Delay is not property damage
If a wrong lift stops work on a site for a day with nothing broken, the contractor claims pure financial loss. That falls outside the AVB. Only where the delay results from covered property damage does the injured party's consequential loss come into play.
What does your premium depend on?
- Type of equipment you operate: mobile crane, tower crane or telehandler
- Turnover or days worked: the usual basis for a sole trader
- Sector you work in: housebuilding, industry or infrastructure
- Working at a single fixed location: regular hire weighs differently from changing jobs
- Care, custody and control cover included: for the machine or the load under the hook
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| You hit another company's crane lorry on the same site with the load | Yes | Yes |
| A groundworker is injured because you lift too soon while he is still hooking up | Yes | Yes |
| A concrete element you are lowering crushes a newly laid manhole | Yes | Yes |
| The hired telehandler you are working with overturns and suffers own damage | No | Provided that |
| You fall off the crane's access ladder and cannot work for two months | No | No |
| The main contractor charges you the hire of a replacement crane for the day lost | No | No |
Extended means a policy with care, custody and control included. What happens to you personally stays outside this insurance even then.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I only operate the client's cranes. Do I still need an AVB?
Yes. The machine is not yours, but the damage you cause to third parties with it is your liability. A facade hit, a fence driven into or injury to a groundworker is put in your name, even if the client insures the crane. Many clients also ask for a valid policy schedule before you can enter the site.
Am I covered under the main contractor's insurance?
Usually not automatically. Some projects have a rolling CAR or project policy on which subcontractors are included, but that covers damage to the works and not your liability towards third parties. Ask in writing at the start which policy applies and whether you are named as an insured. Without that confirmation you carry the risk yourself.
What if I sign something under which I take on all loss?
Liability going beyond what the law imposes on you is contractual liability and is excluded on the AVB. A penalty clause or unlimited indemnity in hire conditions therefore stays at your own expense. Have such provisions assessed in advance; amending them costs less than discovering afterwards that there is no cover.
Is damage caused by departing from instructions deliberately covered?
No. Damage caused with intent or by wilful recklessness stays outside cover under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Lifting knowingly outside the load moment table or bypassing a safety device falls within that. Document every departure from the lifting plan, therefore, and have the site manager sign it off before you start.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB)The main page
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