Liability insurance for a self-employed taxi driver
Almost everything a taxi driver damages happens with or through the car. For this group, liability insurance therefore starts with the question of what risk is left alongside the compulsory taxi cover.
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In brief
Under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) you must hold liability insurance for the taxi itself. That cover runs through your taxi insurance and not through the AVB: damage caused with or by a motor vehicle is excluded as standard on public and employers' liability insurance. A collision, a passenger caught in the sliding door, a door opened into a passing cyclist: those are all cases you report to the motor insurer.
So what is left? Everything you do outside the vehicle. You help a passenger with limited mobility to the front door and he falls. You lift a walking frame out of the boot and damage the car next to you. You wait in the hall of a care home and knock over a display case. Those are injury and property damage losses where the motor vehicle is not the cause, and that is exactly what the AVB is for.
Two things also fall outside the AVB. Suitcases, pushchairs and electric wheelchairs you carry are in your in your care; if you damage them, that is not insured without additional care, custody and control cover. And a flight missed because you drove late is pure financial loss: a loss without injury and without damaged property. For claims of that kind, look at professional indemnity insurance.
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 determine in taxi work whether a claim belongs on the AVB or somewhere else.
The motor vehicle exclusion sets the field of play
Every AVB excludes damage caused with or by a motor vehicle you keep or drive. Because your work takes place in the car, the centre of gravity moves to the WAM cover on the taxi. When you take out the policy, ask expressly how the insurer classifies getting in and out. That is where the boundary between the two policies lies.
Passengers' luggage and aids
A suitcase, a musical instrument or a custom-built wheelchair you put in the luggage space is property in your care. The care, custody and control exclusion takes that loss off the policy. If you regularly carry bulky luggage or expensive aids, have care, custody and control or goods cover quoted rather than gambling on it.
Delay and missed appointments are not covered
A customer who misses his flight or a penalty from a client that is passed on to you is a claim for money and not for repair. The injured party is then claiming pure financial loss, a category the AVB excludes. Liability arising solely from a penalty clause in your transport contract falls outside the cover for the same reason.
Report relief drivers and contract transport
If you put a colleague or stand-in on your car at busy times, employers' liability arises under Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code, even without a contract of employment. A move from street taxi work to school or healthcare transport also changes the risk. Report it, because under Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code an undisclosed circumstance can affect the payment.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for a sole trader
- Type of transport: street taxi, contract transport or healthcare and school transport
- Drivers who ride with you: every extra driver brings employers' liability with them
- Care, custody and control cover for luggage: additional and priced separately
- Sum insured and excess: per claim and per insurance year
- Area of cover: journeys across the border change the risk profile
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| While loading you drop a suitcase on a bystander's foot | Yes | Yes |
| You push a wheelchair against a bicycle, which falls against a shop window | Yes | Yes |
| A musical instrument in your luggage space is damaged during the journey | No | Provided that |
| You receive an administrative fine after an inspection of the taximeter | No | No |
| Your own taxi is damaged when a passenger pushes the door against a post | No | No |
| Water damage in the lock-up garage you rent, because you left the hose running | Provided that | Yes |
Extended here means a policy with tenant's liability and separate care, custody and control cover for luggage and aids.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Why does the AVB not cover a collision with my taxi?
Because damage with or by a motor vehicle is excluded on every business liability policy. Motor vehicles have their own statutory system: Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) requires you to hold liability insurance on the vehicle itself. That policy pays the other party's damage and your passenger's injury. The AVB tops that up for damage unconnected with the vehicle.
A passenger falls while I am helping him to the door. Is that covered?
It may be, because this is personal injury outside the vehicle. The question is whether you acted carelessly within the meaning of Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code: did you hold the walking frame, was there black ice, was the fall caused by the way you were assisting? Report the incident immediately and record what happened; Article 7:941 DCC requires timely notification.
Who pays if I damage a customer's suitcase?
In principle you do. The suitcase is property in your care and that situation is excluded as standard. Some insurers offer limited care, custody and control cover or a goods section for property carried. Ask for that when you apply if you regularly carry valuable luggage or medical aids.
As a self-employed taxi driver without staff, do I need an AVB at all?
Your taxi insurance covers most of your day-to-day risk, but not all of it. As soon as you carry out work unconnected with driving, you fall back on the AVB. Clients in contract and healthcare transport also often require that cover by contract. We assess, on the basis of the type of transport you do, whether the risk outweighs the premium.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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