Liability insurance for a social media agency
A social media agency publishes under someone else's name and films in places it does not control. The first risk falls outside the AVB, the second sits right in the middle of it.
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In brief
The physical side of this work is bigger than outsiders suspect. On a shoot on location tripods, lights and cables stand in a shop, restaurant or factory hall. A softbox falling over, a visitor tripping over an extension lead, a lens rolling off a table: that is injury and property damage and that is what the AVB is made for. The basis of that cover is set out on hub page on public and employers' liability.
What you publishes falls outside that cover. A post that wrongly puts a competitor in a bad light, a photograph in which someone is recognisable without consent, music or footage without the right licence, or a claim in an advertisement that does not pass the advertising rules: those are claims for money. Pure financial loss and infringement of intellectual property rights are excluded on the AVB. Discuss whether your professional indemnity insurance has a media or publication section.
You also have staff and accounts. For the team the duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code applies, including on long production days on location. For the accounts you manage on clients' behalf, a hijacked channel is not an AVB loss but a case for cyber insurance for marketing agencies.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
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What to look out for
Four points that recur in content production and account management.
Working in someone else's premises
If you film in a shop or catering business, you are liable for what you damage there. Think of scorch marks from a lamp on a ceiling or a scratch across a counter. Watch the boundary: the part you are working on — a hired set, a product on loan — can fall under the care, custody and control exclusion, while the rest of the premises is covered.
Publishing on the client's behalf
If a post goes wrong and a third party demands a correction and compensation, that is not injury or property damage. copyright claims about images or audio used are generally excluded as well, including on many professional indemnity policies. Work with a watertight licence record and set out who does the final editing.
Hired-in creators and influencers
If you engage freelance videographers or influencers, Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code gives the client a route to hold you liable for damage they cause in carrying out the work. Check whether auxiliary persons engaged appear on your policy schedule, and ask these creators for their own policy schedule.
Fines are never insured
Sanctions from a regulator — about misleading advertising, about a missing advertising disclosure or about data processing — are a penalty and not compensation. They are excluded on every liability policy. What is insurable are the costs you incur to investigate and report a data breach.
What does your premium depend on?
- Payroll and team size: the basis for employers' liability
- Annual turnover: counts towards the liability risk in relation to clients
- Share of production on location: shoots away from your own office increase the property damage risk
- Use of heavy lighting and sound equipment: determines the chance of damage in third parties' premises
- Sum insured and excess: per claim and per insurance year
- Area of cover: shoots or campaigns outside Europe call for an adjustment
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A tripod topples and smashes the espresso machine at the catering business where you are filming | Yes | No |
| An employee injures his back unloading lighting equipment for a shoot | Yes | No |
| A campaign goes live a day early and the client misses his planned press moment | No | Yes |
| A wrong setting in the ad manager spends the monthly budget in two days | No | Yes |
| A photographer claims a fee for an image you posted without a licence | No | Provided that |
| A drone you use for aerial footage hits the facade of the neighbouring building | Provided that | No |
With every claim, ask first whether anything is broken or anyone is injured. That answer determines which of the two policies responds.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A client complains of reputational damage after an unfortunate post. Is that covered?
Not on the AVB. Reputational and turnover losses are financial detriment without damaged property or an injured person. Some professional indemnity policies have a separate section for publication and media risk. Ask about it expressly, because that section is not included as standard.
We broke a display case during a shoot. What happens?
That is damage to a third party's property and fits within the AVB, provided work on location has been reported. Do check whether the display case or its contents counted as an object in your care. If you moved it yourself for the shot, the care, custody and control exclusion can still apply.
Are borrowed cameras and lenses insured?
Not through the AVB. Hired or borrowed equipment is in your control without your owning it, and the care, custody and control exclusion bites on that. Hire firms therefore often ask for separate equipment or hire cover. You insure your own equipment through business contents or electronics cover, not through liability.
A trainee is injured while building a set. Is that AVB?
Yes, if the employers' liability section is included. Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code counts trainees among the people covered by your duty of care. Provide instruction about lifting, cable runs and setting up tripods, and record that instruction. Without demonstrable measures your position is weak.
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