Intermediary work · travel documents · financial loss
Liability insurance for a self-employed travel agent
A travel agent sells trips that someone else operates. When things go wrong, the loss is almost always money and not injury, and that is precisely what falls outside public and employers' liability insurance.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zelfstandige reisagent.
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.
In brief
Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) is about injury and property damage suffered by others. For a self-employed travel agent that is a narrow category: a client who trips over a cable at your table, an exhibition stand that falls over, a supplier's hire car you damage during an inspection trip. The basis is Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. It is real cover, but it is not where your day-to-day risk lies.
Your actual risk is pure financial loss: the client suffers a financial loss without anything being damaged or anyone injured. A wrong date on a ticket, a name that does not match the passport, a schedule change that was not passed on, a forgotten note about a visa or transit rule. That claim belongs on professional indemnity insurance and is excluded as standard on the AVB.
Watch your legal roletoo. If you only act as an intermediary, you are a retailer. If you combine transport and accommodation into a single product yourself, you count as a tour organiser and the package travel rules apply to you: performance in accordance with the contract under Article 7:507 of the Dutch Civil Code and security against insolvency under Article 7:512 of the Dutch Civil Code. You arrange the latter through a guarantee fund, not through a liability policy. For the sector as a whole, see liability insurance for recreation and tourism.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What to look out for
Four points that cause more argument for a self-employed travel agent than the sum insured.
Your capacity on the policy
Your policy schedule describes the activities the cover applies to. If it says travel intermediary while you are also putting group trips together or accompanying them on the ground, that work is not covered. Have the description amended as soon as your offering changes; under Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code an incorrect or incomplete disclosure can affect the payment.
Visas, passports and vaccinations
A client turned away at Schiphol because his passport is valid for only four more months will claim the cost of the trip and a replacement trip. That is pure financial loss. Record what information you gave and that the client remains responsible for valid documents. That evidence determines the outcome more than the policy does.
Travel documents and client data
You work with passport copies, dates of birth and sometimes medical information. If those leak, the people concerned can claim compensation under Article 82 of the GDPR. Investigation, notification and remediation belong on a cyber insurance; a fine from the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (the Dutch data protection authority) is not insurable anywhere.
Client money and payments
Deposits that pass through your account are money, not property damage. If money disappears through fraud or a wrong transfer, the AVB does not pay. Arrange that with a separate provision and a tight payment process, and keep client money separate from your own funds.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover or booking volume: the usual basis for intermediary work
- Acting as intermediary or assembling trips yourself: as a tour organiser you run more risk
- Area of cover: trips to the US and Canada are often assessed separately
- Business or private customers: business clients impose heavier contractual requirements
- Accompanying trips yourself: travelling along brings physical risk back into the picture
- Sum insured and excess: per claim and per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| During a hotel inspection you damage a display case in the lobby | Yes | No |
| You book the outbound flight a day too early and the client buys a new ticket at the airport | No | Yes |
| You recommend a destination for which negative travel advice was already in force and the client has to return halfway | No | Yes |
| A participant on the group trip you accompany yourself falls from a mountain path | Provided that | No |
| Your file of passport copies leaks and clients claim compensation | No | No |
| Customers demand their deposit back after the tour operator goes bankrupt | No | No |
If you accompany trips yourself, the capacity on your policy schedule determines whether that fourth situation falls within the cover at all.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I book a flight on the wrong date. Does the AVB pay for the rebooking?
No. The client claims money and there is no injury or damaged property, so this is pure financial loss. That falls outside public and employers' liability insurance and belongs on professional indemnity insurance. Do report the mistake to your insurer at once: Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to notify a loss as soon as you are reasonably aware of it.
The tour operator goes bankrupt. Am I liable for that?
If you acted purely as an intermediary, performance rests with the organiser. If you put a package together yourself, you count as a tour organiser and must have provided security for refunds and repatriation under Article 7:512 of the Dutch Civil Code. A guarantee fund arranges that. Liability insurance does not take over that obligation.
I work from home. Is my personal liability insurance (AVP) enough?
No. A personal policy excludes damage connected with the practice of a profession or business. If you receive clients at home or something goes wrong at a trade fair, you need business cover. State when you apply that you work from home and whether clients come to your premises.
A client is injured during the trip booked. What does that mean for me?
The operator is in principle liable for the performance of the trip. As an intermediary you come into the picture where you recommended a provider you knew or should have known was unsound, or where you withheld information about risks. Such an allegation concerns your advice and therefore professional indemnity, not the AVB.
Read more
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