Authority in your name · water damage · subcontracting
Liability insurance for a self-employed central heating engineer
As a self-employed heating engineer you put your signature to the work and to the sign-off of the installation. That personal authority is precisely what an insurer asks about after a loss.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zelfstandige cv-monteur.
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.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
- We compare the offerings of several insurers
- An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
You work in the consumer unit, in the boiler room and in the loft of people who live there. A filling hose you leave running for a moment, a pipe that breaks while being removed, a radiator that is not sealed: the damage is immediately visible and often substantial, because there are floors and ceilings below. Public and employers' liability insurance is there for that damage to property and for injury to others. The general workings are explained on the hub page public and employers' liability insurance.
Statutory certification applies to work on gas-fired appliances, and for a sole trader that is felt personally: the business certificate and your own competence are in one name. Insurers often include that requirement as a condition. If you work without valid certification, you run an enforcement risk and also the risk that a loss is not paid. The same applies to the clause on hot work when soldering and using a torch.
What this policy does not do is protect your own position. If you injure yourself or fall off the loft ladder, there is no employer liable and the AVB pays nothing. For that, look at disability insurance. Your press tools, measuring equipment and the contents of the van you insure through tools insurance. If you work regularly for one installation business, check whether you are covered on their policy or whether you are entirely on your own.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What to look out for
Four situations that most often lead to discussion with the insurer for a self-employed engineer.
Water that only runs after you have left
A joint that comes loose after heating up causes damage when nobody is at home. Carry out a pressure test after filling and note the result on the job sheet. When a claim is made, that note is the evidence that you checked the installation, and it avoids the discussion about whether the customer has been at the installation themselves.
The installation you are working on
If you damage the boiler, the underfloor heating manifold or the pipe you are working on, that is damage to an item in your in your care and is excluded as standard. The consequential damage to the house around it can be covered. Anyone doing a lot of repair work should therefore ask whether additional care, custody and control cover is possible.
Where the policy stops
Not insured are the cost of redoing your own work, fines from a regulator, damage caused with your van (Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM)), and claims based solely on a guarantee you have given. Damage caused deliberately falls away under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Your contract with the installation business
Subcontracting agreements regularly contain an indemnity, a penalty for late completion and a requirement for a minimum sum insured. Your policy follows your liability in law under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code; anything you sign up to on top of that you bear yourself. Have a framework contract assessed in advance rather than after the first claim.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the basis for a sole trader
- Ratio of installation to maintenance: new build or service work on existing installations
- Hot work: soldering and torch work weigh more heavily than pressing
- Type of client: private customers, a VvE (Dutch owners' association) or a business client
- Sum insured: clients set a lower limit for this
- Excess: often separate for damage to third parties' property
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| An expansion vessel you fitted discharges and the loft insulation is soaked | Yes | No |
| While draining a radiator, rusty water stains the living room carpet | Yes | No |
| Your press tool falls out of the consumer unit onto the tiled hall floor | Yes | No |
| An occupant has persistent headaches and blames the boiler you connected | Provided that | No |
| The main contractor recovers from you the hire of temporary heating during the breakdown | No | Provided that |
| The customer refuses to pay because you came a day later than agreed | No | No |
Consequential damage in the home can be covered, while putting your own connection right never is.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I work regularly for one installation business. Do I need a policy of my own?
Almost always yes. Their insurance covers their liability, not yours as a self-employed business owner, and they can recover a loss from you. Clients also require a certificate of insurance of your own before you are engaged. Ask in writing how they arrange it and keep the answer with your records.
What if the customer refused to have a defect put right?
Record that in writing on the job sheet and have it signed off where possible. In a later claim about a leak or combustion gases, that evidence is decisive for the question whether you are liable. A verbal warning is of hardly any value in an injury case, even if the customer remembers it.
Does the insurance pay a claim about a wrongly advised boiler?
No, not where the customer only demands money back because the appliance does not do what was promised. Without damaged property or an injured person it is pure financial loss, and that belongs on professional indemnity insurance. If you regularly advise on the choice of system, output or ventilation, discuss whether that cover is needed alongside the AVB.
How quickly do I have to report a claim?
As quickly as you reasonably can, as Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires. With water damage a loss adjuster often wants to see the state of the installation before repairs are made. Take photographs, keep the part that was replaced and do not promise compensation before the insurer has assessed the file.
Read more
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