Liability insurance for a self-employed UX designer
As a self-employed UX designer you usually sit within the client's team. Your biggest risks are a design error and a licence that is not in order — both outside public and employers' liability insurance.
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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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- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
The AVB covers only what you physically break or whom you injure. For a designer sitting at a client for days on end, that means the fit-out of that office: a sliding partition you damage while hanging a journey map, a projector you knock off the table, a bag that swings into a glass partition. The basic explanation is set out on hub page on public and employers' liability.
The risk in the work itself is financial in nature. A design that has to be rebuilt after delivery because a mandatory screen is missing, a form lacking a validation that leads to incorrect input, a design system that does not meet accessibility standards. The client then claims rebuild or repair hours. For this pure financial loss you look not to the AVB but to professional indemnity insurance.
Do not underestimate the licence risk. Typefaces with a limited web font licence, icon sets, stock images in mock-ups that eventually go live: a rights holder who comes after you is claiming money. Infringement of intellectual property is excluded on the AVB and on many professional indemnity policies as well. Keep the licence evidence for each project and hand it over on delivery.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
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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.
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We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
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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 pinch in practice in self-employed design work.
The client's laptop and screen
When hired in, you are often given a workplace with equipment. Everything of the client's that is in your have in your carefalls under the care, custody and control exclusion: if you damage it, the AVB does nothing. Ask for a care, custody and control clause if you work with expensive drawing tablets or test devices, or place the risk with the owner in writing.
Licences and third-party rights
A font or icon you use in a prototype goes into production with it. If a cease-and-desist letter arrives, that is not property damage and not injury. Claims for infringement of copyright or trade mark rights are excluded as standard. Set out in your terms who is responsible for licences on handover and keep your own records.
What you take on by contract
Framework agreements from large clients contain indemnities, confidentiality penalties and sometimes a compulsory minimum sum insured. Liability arising only from a clause and not from the law is not insured. Negotiate a liability cap and check that the cover required matches what your policy offers.
Your business activity on the policy schedule
The policy schedule states what you are insured for. If your work shifts from interaction design to front-end development or to content management, report it. Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code calls for a correct disclosure when the insurance is taken out and Article 7:930 DCC governs what happens if reality differs from it.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for a sole trader
- Work on site or remote: determines how often you are physically at clients
- Size of the assignments: long-running projects carry larger consequential loss
- Requested sum insured: large clients set a minimum for this
- Excess: a higher excess lowers the premium
- Area of cover: clients outside Europe change the risk
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| During a workshop you knock a projector off the client's conference table | Yes | No |
| A workshop participant trips over your drawing tablet's cable and hurts a wrist | Yes | No |
| The drawing tablet you had on loan from the client is damaged in transit | Provided that | No |
| A missing validation in your form design means the client processes incorrect applications for months | No | Yes |
| The client relies on an indemnity in his purchasing conditions that goes beyond the law | No | No |
| The claim concerns front-end development, while your policy schedule states only interaction design | Provided that | Provided that |
The last row shows why a shift in your work must always be reported to the insurer.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
The client wants the design rebuilt. Does the insurance pay for that?
Putting right or replacing your own performance is not insured on any liability policy. That is performance of your contract. Only damage your mistake causes to others can fall under professional indemnity insurance. Clear acceptance criteria in the contract prevent most of these arguments.
I have received a cease-and-desist letter about a typeface on a live site.
That is a money claim for infringement of a licence. The AVB does not cover it, because nothing is damaged and nobody is injured. Professional indemnity policies usually exclude intellectual property as well. Check your licence terms and the arrangements with the client about handing over files.
Is a client right to ask for an AVB?
Often he asks for liability insurance without distinguishing. For design work, professional indemnity is usually the relevant cover and the AVB the addition for physical damage at his site. Ask which type of loss the contract means before you take out a policy that does not solve the problem.
What happens if I report a claim late?
Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to inform the insurer as soon as possible once you know of a loss. If your delay prejudices the insurer in its investigation or defence, it may reduce the payment. Always forward a letter of liability immediately, therefore, and do not admit liability yourself.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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