Liability insurance for a self-employed electrician
As a self-employed electrician you usually work in a private home or under a main contractor. Those two situations put the risk in completely different places.
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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.
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In brief
If you work for private clients, your risk is close to home: replacing a consumer unit in a house that is already occupied, fitting a charging point to a facade, pulling cables through a finished ceiling. A drill through a water pipe or a wrongly connected residual current device quickly leads to damage to the client's house and contents. That is property damage, and the public and employers' liability insurance is meant.
If you are hired in on a project, the conversation changes. In almost every contract the main contractor requires liability insurance of your own with a minimum sum insured, and passes losses on to you. Watch the description of business activityin that case: if it says only electrical installation work and you also carry out data, solar panel or assembly work, that part falls outside cover. Report changes, because Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code places a duty of disclosure on you when you take out the insurance.
This policy does not cover three things. Your your own injury: as a self-employed person you do not have the protection of Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code in relation to yourself, and loss of income after an accident is arranged through disability insurance. Your your own tools, for which the tool insurance for the self-employed exists. And redoing your own work.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
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We compare your business liability insurance (AVB) 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.
Business liability insurance (AVB)
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Get coveredWhy 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.
What to look out for
Four points that pinch more often than the premium for a self-employed electrician.
The sum insured your client requires
Large contractors and network operators set a minimum per claim and per year in their purchasing conditions. Check that before you sign and not once you are on site. If you accept more liability by contract than the law imposes on you, that extra part is excluded.
The installation you are working on
The meter cupboard, distribution board or machine you are converting is in your care. If you damage it, the care, custody and control exclusion affects your claim. Damage to what is around it, such as floor coverings, a kitchen or the client's equipment, usually falls outside that and is therefore more likely to be covered.
Advice is a different risk
If you calculate a circuit layout, advise on charging infrastructure or issue an inspection opinion, an error concerns money and not broken items. That pure financial loss belongs on a professional indemnity insurance and not on the AVB.
Report as soon as you know
A client who rings months later about a burnt-out installation is making a claim. Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to report it as soon as possible. Do not admit liability and do not repair anything before the insurer has been able to have the situation assessed; evidence you remove does not come back.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the basis on which self-employed people are usually rated
- Type of clients: private work differs from industry and network operation
- Described business activity: the wider your activities, the heavier the profile
- Work abroad: the territorial scope must follow your working area
- Hiring in others: as soon as you engage someone yourself, that counts
- Excess per claim: a higher excess brings the premium down
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| Your ladder falls against the conservatory of your client's neighbours | Yes | No |
| A resident trips over your extension lead in the hall and breaks her hip | Yes | No |
| While chasing out channels, dust settles on the upholstered furniture in the living room | Yes | No |
| The main contractor passes on the hire of an emergency generator because you arrived a day late | No | Yes |
| The client claims the lost yield from his solar panels after an inverter was set wrongly | No | Yes |
| The downlighters you supplied turn out not to comply and all have to be replaced | No | No |
Damage arising alongside your work is insurable. The work itself and consequences in money are not, on this policy.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
As a self-employed professional, am I required to have liability insurance?
Not as a matter of law. In reality yes: almost every contractor, installer and housing association makes it a condition of hiring you, with a minimum sum insured. Without a policy you pay a claim out of your own resources, and with a fire or an injury that runs well beyond what a sole trader can bear.
I work under the direction of a main contractor. Am I covered under his policy?
No. The contractor's policy insures his own liability, not yours; he will in fact pass a loss on to you. What does apply to you: if you are injured yourself while working under his direction, Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code can make him liable. That does not cover your own loss of income.
The client says my work has to be done again. Does the insurance pay for that?
No. Repairing or redoing your own work is your performance under the contract and not loss suffered by a third party. What the AVB can bear is the damage your mistake caused to other property: a burnt-out washing machine, damaged plasterwork or a damaged floor.
My tools have been stolen from the van. Can I claim for that?
Not under the liability policy. That pays only for the losses of others. Your own machines, measuring equipment and hand tools are insured with tools cover, where you should check the conditions on storage in the vehicle: many policies exclude theft from a van overnight or require a certified lock.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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