Handyman services · client transport · changing roster
Liability insurance for a volunteer organisation
An organisation that runs on volunteers sends people without formal training to places it does not know: homes, streets, kitchens. That changes the questions an insurer asks.
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- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een vrijwilligersorganisatie.
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.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
- We compare the offerings of several insurers
- An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
A volunteer organisation — a food bank, a community centre, a support service, a buddy project — is an ordinary principal in law. You are liable for damage a volunteer causes to someone else under Article 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Code, because the work is done under your direction and supervision. Conversely, you owe that volunteer a duty of care through Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code. Those two articles together determine which sections you need on your public and employers' liability insurance.
What makes this work special is that it largely happens on other people's property. A handyman service drills into a wall and hits a pipe, a shopping service leaves a door open, a meal delivery spills on a floor. As soon as your volunteer has someone else's property in his has in its keeping — a home he is working in, a key, a wheelchair, a pet during an outing — the care, custody and control exclusion comes into play and the standard policy does not pay.
Two other things fall outside as standard. Transporting clients or goods by car or minibus falls under the compulsory motor insurance (Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM)) and is excluded on every AVB. Complaints about the organisation itself — a poor intake, a report not passed on, financial management — produce pure financial loss and belong with professional indemnity insurance or the directors' and officers' liability insurance.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
Where this work runs aground
Four points that cause more argument at an organisation with volunteers than the sum insured.
Working in someone else's home
Handyman, gardening and cleaning services go to the heart of the care, custody and control exclusion: the part of the home being worked on is property the volunteer has in his keeping. Some insurers offer limited care, custody and control cover or a clause for small helping-hand services. Ask for it expressly and record which activities volunteers may and may not carry out.
Instruction and supervision with untrained help
Your duty of care is no lower because the work is unpaid. In a claim the insurer will ask about the instruction, the equipment and the supervision: was there an introduction, was sound ladder and tool equipment used, was someone responsible on site. Record that in a work instruction and an attendance list. Without documentation your position is weak when Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code is invoked.
A changing roster and the policy schedule
The number of volunteers changes by season and by project. Insurers set the premium on the basis of your declaration and assess the risk on the activities described. If you start a new service — transport, day care, night shelter — report it during the policy term. Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code give the insurer room to reduce the payment if the declaration was incorrect.
Vulnerable clients and the injury risk
If you work with older people, children or people with a disability, the chance of injury in a small incident is greater and the loss higher. Insurers assess this as a separate risk category. Arrange a fixed incident procedure: record and report every incident in writing, even without a claim, because Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code calls for timely notification.
What does your premium depend on?
- Number of volunteers and hours: the scale of the work weighs more heavily than the membership number
- Type of services: odd jobs and transport weigh more heavily than hosting duties
- Target group: vulnerable clients increase the injury risk
- Work at third parties' locations: determines the need for care, custody and control cover
- Your own premises or rented premises: tenant's liability is a separate section
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| A volunteer drops a bucket on a client's laminate floor while cleaning windows | Yes | No |
| A visitor to the community centre slips on a freshly mopped floor | Yes | No |
| A client falls because a volunteer did not put the wheelchair brake on | Yes | No |
| During a handyman service a volunteer drills into a pipe in the wall he was working on | Provided that | No |
| A client claims eviction costs because your support service did not pass on a report about rent arrears | No | Yes |
| A volunteer takes money from the organisation's cash box | No | No |
What a volunteer had in his keeping weighs more heavily in a notification than the question of how large the loss is.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Our municipality has volunteers' insurance. Is that enough?
Usually not as the only arrangement. Those collective schemes are generally supplementary and only step in for what another policy does not cover. The organisation's own liability, tenant's liability and care, custody and control situations then remain uninsured. Ask for the policy conditions and set them alongside your own cover to see which part overlaps and which part is missing.
A volunteer damages a client's washing machine. Is that covered?
If he was working on it, it falls under the care, custody and control exclusion and the standard AVB does not pay. If the damage arose because he bumped into it during other work, it is ordinary property damage and covered in principle. That distinction is small but decisive; record exactly what the volunteer was doing at the time when you notify.
Are our volunteers insured while transporting clients?
For damage to other road users the compulsory motor insurance applies; Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) requires it and the AVB excludes motor vehicles. For injury to the volunteer as the driver, separate employers' liability cover for road use is needed, as described at WEGAS and WEGAM. Tell the motor insurer that the car is used for the organisation.
What if a volunteer takes money or goods?
Deliberate conduct is excluded. Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code provides that the insurer does not pay for damage caused by intent or recklessness, and theft by a worker also falls outside the concept of liability in the AVB. Separate fidelity or money insurance exists for that risk; as prevention, a four-eyes principle helps with cash and key management.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekeringthe main page
- Liability insurance for voluntary work
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering liefdadigheid
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering stichting
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering vereniging
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering goede doel
- Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering beveiliger zzp
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