Liability insurance for a theatre company
A theatre company admits an audience to a space it has laid out itself. That makes the set, the fly system and the circulation routes a liability question and not only a technical one.
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In brief
The distinctive risk of a company is that an audience comes in. A visitor tripping over a cable in the aisle, a set piece coming out of the rigging, a lighting stand falling over in the auditorium: those are injury claims under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. If you play in premises you own yourself, liability for a defective structure under Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code is added, for example for a loose stair tread or a badly fixed rigging point.
Almost every company also works with a mixed crew: actors on the payroll, freelance technicians, guest performers and volunteers behind the bar, in the cloakroom and on the bridge. The duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code applies, through subsection 4, to people who are not your employees but do work under your supervision. Falls from a scaffold, a hand caught in a set truck, a back injured while loading: those are the most common injury claims from within.
Three matters fall outside the AVB. Damage to the hired auditorium, the fly system or the theatre's lighting and sound equipment runs into the care, custody and control exclusion and the tenant's liability section. A performance that does not go ahead costs money without anything being damaged; that is pure financial loss and belongs with a events insurance or a business interruption insurance. A claim about rights in text, music or images is not an AVB loss either. The general explanation is set out on hub page on the AVB.
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 subjects that actually determine the cover for a company.
An audience walking into the set
In site-specific and immersive performances the audience moves through a space you have laid out, often in half-darkness. Insurers ask about this expressly. Record how you brief visitors, what the escape routes are and what arrangements you have made with the fire service or the municipality. Without that disclosure an insurer can rely on Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Rigging, the fly system and working at height
If your own crew rigs the set, you carry responsibility for the loading and the fixings, including in someone else's auditorium. Proof of inspection of hoists, harnesses and lifting gear is the first thing requested in an injury claim under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code. If it is missing, liability is barely contested any more.
Fire, smoke and pyrotechnics
Naked flames, candles on the stage floor and pyrotechnic effects appear on virtually every policy as exclusion or as a risk that must be notified. A smoke machine that triggers a fire alarm can also become an expensive event: the theatre's evacuation costs are financial loss and not property damage, so the AVB gives no cover for them.
Volunteers and guest performers
Volunteers are not employees, but where there is injury, the same duty of care is almost always considered. Make sure the employers' liability section expressly names volunteers, trainees and hired-in workers and give a realistic number. A number stated too low can lead to a reduced payment under Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
- Number of performances per season: more performances means more contact with the public
- Own or hired venue: determines whether structure and tenant's liability come into play
- Payroll and number of volunteers: the basis for employers' liability
- Technical work in house: rigging and moving sets yourself weighs more heavily than performing only
- Fire and height effects: must be disclosed and are sometimes insurable only after separate assessment
- Touring inside or outside the Netherlands: the area of cover must match this
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| A visitor breaks an ankle on a poorly lit step in your own auditorium | Yes | Yes |
| Costumes you borrowed from a hire firm are damaged in transit | No | No |
| A hired follow spot falls over while being packed and is beyond repair | No | Provided that |
| The theatre's parquet floor is damaged by a set piece being moved | Provided that | Yes |
| A guest performer falls through a trap in the stage floor and breaks a wrist | Provided that | Yes |
| The co-producer recovers the costs of three cancelled performances after a technical failure | No | No |
Extended here means a policy with tenant's liability, property in your care, and guest performers and volunteers as insured persons.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A visitor tripped over a cable in the auditorium. Covered?
If you laid the cable and did not tape or mark it, that is a classic tort within the meaning of Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and the injury falls under the AVB. The insurer will look at lighting, marking and the briefing given to the audience. Report the event immediately, even if the visitor has not yet made a claim.
We hire a theatre auditorium. Who pays for damage to the floor?
Damage to the premises hired falls under the tenant's liability section, which is not included as standard on every policy. Without that section you pay for a burnt dance floor or a damaged wall yourself. The theatre's technical equipment you use temporarily, such as the fly system or the lighting rig, also runs into the care, custody and control exclusion and calls for a separate arrangement.
Are our volunteers covered?
Only if the policy says so. In many conditions employers' liability applies to subordinates; volunteers do not automatically fall within that, while the duty of care under Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code can apply to them as soon as they work under your supervision. Have volunteers expressly included and consider personal accident cover as well, because that pays without any argument about fault.
A performance did not go ahead because of a technical failure. Does the AVB pay?
No. The AVB exists for damage you cause to others in the form of injury or damaged property. Lost box office income, refunded tickets and the fee for a cancelled performance are financial loss. Events and business interruption insurance exist for that. On the AVB this is excluded, whatever the cause of the failure.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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