Liability insurance for a self-employed SEO specialist
As a self-employed SEO specialist you often work for weeks inside a client's or an agency's team. That changes not only your daily rhythm, but also the question of who is liable when something goes wrong.
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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.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
For the AVB only one question counts: did you cause injury or property damage to someone else? On secondment in an office that happens sooner than you think — a server cabinet you run into with a mobile desk, a glass of water over a switch in the riser cupboard, a door you pull off its hinges. How the cover is built up is described on hub page on public and employers' liability.
Your professional risk lies elsewhere. A canonical tag pointing to the wrong variant, a robots. txt that after a release blocks the whole test environment or in fact opens it up, structured data that leads to a manual action: the result is lost visibility and turnover. That type of loss is excluded on the AVB as pure financial loss and belongs on professional indemnity insurance.
Also look closely at your contract terms. Agencies and hiring desks work with indemnities, penalty clauses and sometimes a compulsory minimum sum insured. Liability arising solely from such a clause and not from the law is excluded on virtually every AVB. Make your contracts and your policy fit together before you sign.
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 make the difference when you are hired in as a self-employed professional.
A contractual indemnity is not insured liability
If you sign an agreement indemnifying the client against all loss, you take on more than the law imposes on you. The AVB covers only liability in law; what you accept on top of that by contract remains at your expense. Negotiate about a liability cap rather than about a higher policy limit.
The client's work equipment
On secondment you are usually given a laptop with VPN access to take home. For as long as that item is in your in your care, the standard AVB gives no cover for damage to it. Record who carries the risk of loss, theft or a fall, or ask for a care, custody and control clause.
Are you a subordinate or independent?
If you work entirely under the client's direction, the client can itself be liable for your mistakes under Article 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Code. If you are an independent contractor engaged, Article 6:171 DCC applies and the client can seek recovery from you. That classification determines who takes the first hit in a claim; record the actual way of working in the assignment confirmation.
Your own absence is a different risk
The AVB is about other people's losses, never about your own income. If you are off work for a long time, invoicing stops. For that, look at disability insurance and assess it separately from your liability cover.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for a self-employed professional
- Nature of the assignments: technical work weighs more heavily than content advice
- Secondment or remote assignment: being on site increases the property damage risk
- Requested sum insured: hiring agencies often set a minimum here
- Excess per claim: a higher excess brings the premium down
- Area of cover: assignments outside the Netherlands call for an adjustment
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| You run your desk chair over a network cable and pull the switch off the hot desk | Yes | No |
| You put your bag on a glass side table at the client and it breaks | Yes | No |
| After your restructure, hundreds of pages point to a deleted category and organic traffic halves | No | Yes |
| Your hreflang implementation sends German visitors to the Dutch checkout | No | Yes |
| Your laptop with all the client documentation is stolen from the train | No | No |
| You are off work for three months with burnout and cannot take on assignments | No | No |
On the left is what you knock over, on the right what you miscalculate. Your own belongings and your own absence are in neither.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
My client requires liability insurance. Is an AVB enough?
Usually not. An AVB covers injury and property damage, while the risk in SEO work lies in financial detriment. Ask which type of loss the client means. In many cases a combination of public and employers' liability and professional indemnity is needed to meet the contract requirement.
Am I insured if I work for an agency at their end client?
That depends on the description of your insured capacity on the policy schedule. If you regularly work at agencies' end clients, have that included in the application. Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code calls for a complete picture and Article 7:930 DCC determines what happens if the insurer would have decided differently had it known the facts.
What if I accidentally take a production environment offline?
Downtime and loss of turnover are pure financial loss and therefore excluded on the AVB. If data has actually been lost, cyber insurance also plays a part. Inform your broker at once; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code calls for timely notification and delay can put the payment under pressure.
Does the AVB cover damage I cause deliberately?
No. Under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code, damage the insured caused wilfully or recklessly remains uninsured. That can also arise if you carry on using a method you know will lead to a penalty. Insurers test this expressly in larger claims, so record when you warned a client.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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