Working at height · glass in your care · water damage
Liability insurance for a self-employed window cleaner
You work above other people's heads, with water, on someone else's facade. Falling objects, wet floors and a cracked pane are the three types of loss your policy has to handle.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zzp-glazenwasser.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
The most common loss is mundane: a bucket, squeegee or ladder falling from height onto a car, a cyclist or a terrace. Your liability then follows from Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and the question is whether you should have cordoned off the area below your working position. The public and employers' liability insurance is the policy for that. Then there is water damage: on inside work, water runs down the internal wall through an open tilt-and-turn window, and in facade cleaning water gets into a home through a poorly sealed frame.
The trickiest point in this trade is the care, custody and control exclusion. The glass you clean, the frames you take in and the facade you work on with a brush system are in your care at that moment. If a pane cracks because of a stress difference, if you scratch the glass with dirt in the blade or if a cleaning agent damages the coating or the facade cladding, that is damage to the item you were working on and it falls outside the standard cover. Some insurers offer limited care, custody and control cover for an additional premium; have it recorded expressly whether you have it.
Two other items do not belong on the liability policy either. Your own ladders, telescopic poles and reverse osmosis system belong on tools insurance. Damage you cause with your van falls under the compulsory insurance requirement of Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) and therefore under the van insurance. Your own injury after a fall is not someone else's liability but loss of income, for which disability insurance exists.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What to look out for
Four subjects that determine whether a loss is paid for a self-employed window cleaner.
What you actually use to reach height
A ladder, telescopic pole, mobile tower, access platform or facade installation are four different risks to an underwriter. If your policy states only work up to a certain height, and you occasionally work higher, the insurer can rely on Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code: where a heavier risk has not been disclosed, payment can be reduced or refused.
Working indoors at homes and businesses
As soon as you go inside, you are standing among someone else's furniture, laptops and floors. Those are third parties' property and damage to them is covered in principle, provided you did not have them in your care. A laptop you move aside to reach the window can be regarded as property in your care, custody and control. Move as little as possible yourself and agree in advance what the customer will clear.
Keys and access codes
On regular rounds you are given keys or a code for an office building. If a key goes missing and a master key system has to be replaced, it is a matter of costs with no damaged property: pure financial loss, excluded as standard unless a keys clause is included. Ask about this expressly where you have ongoing contracts.
People below the facade
If you work above a shop entrance, a school playground or a terrace, cordoning off is not a formality but the evidence that you took reasonable measures. Photographs of cones, tape and warning signs before you start are the only hard evidence you have when a claim comes in. Knowingly carrying on without barriers can, as recklessness within the meaning of Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code are interpreted.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for a sole trader
- Maximum working height: up to first floor level is a different risk from high-rise
- Equipment used: ladder, mobile tower, access platform or facade installation
- Share of indoor work: work in occupied and furnished spaces increases the risk of damage
- Facade cleaning and chemicals: high pressure and cleaning agents attack surfaces
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Water runs down the internal wall through an open tilt-and-turn window and damages the plasterwork | Yes | No |
| Your ladder slips and damages the customer's gutter and window frame | Yes | No |
| A resident falls over the hose you have unrolled across the pavement | Yes | No |
| A cleaning agent damages the coating of the windows you are cleaning | Provided that | No |
| After a missed round the customer engages another company at a higher rate | No | No |
| You fall off the ladder yourself and cannot work for months | No | No |
What you are cleaning at that moment is the property in your care; everything around it does fall within cover in principle.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A pane cracks while I am cleaning it. Who pays for that?
As a rule you do. The glass is at that moment the item you are working on and therefore falls under the care, custody and control exclusion of the liability policy. Only with care, custody and control cover expressly included is such a pane eligible for payment. If the cause is an existing stress crack, record that immediately with photographs.
My bucket falls onto a parked car. Is that covered?
Yes, that is damage to a third party's property and that is exactly what public and employers' liability insurance exists for. The insurer will check whether you had cordoned off the area below your working position. Report the damage straight away and note the registration number, time and place; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires notification as soon as you know of the loss.
Water runs into a living room through the window. What now?
Water damage to a customer's contents and floor is property damage to a third party and covered in principle. The sticking point is whether you opened or left open the window yourself. If you did, liability is clear but so is cover in most cases. If it was a defective frame, tell the customer before you start.
If I fall off the ladder myself, does the policy pay?
No. Liability insurance pays for damage you cause to others, not for your own injury or lost turnover. As a self-employed person you arrange that through disability insurance or personal accident cover. A insurance package for self-employed professionals combines those covers with the liability policy.
Read more
Within Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
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