Liability insurance for a wine merchant
A wine merchant sells a product that is drunk, comes in glass and often originates outside the European Union. Those three characteristics together shape the liability picture.
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In brief
If you import yourself from a country outside the European Union or sell under your own label, you are the producer under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code. A glass fragment in a bottle, allergens labelled incorrectly or a contaminated batch then creates strict liability: the buyer does not have to prove fault. That is why a wine merchant wants the product liability section expressly included, even where the wine is not your own product.
You also have a physical business. Customers walk between shelves of glass, staff stack boxes and use a sack truck, and at tastings wine is poured. Injury to a visitor falls under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and, where there is a defect in the premises, under Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code; injury to your staff runs through the duty of care in Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code. If you deliver yourself, the damage you cause with the van falls under motor insurance and not under the AVB.
Three items stay outside the cover. The batch of wine itself is never an insured liability loss; spoilage, cork taint and recalling a lot are business risks. Administrative fines, for example after serving a minor, are a punishment and therefore excluded. And wine you hold on consignment or in safekeeping for a client falls under the care, custody and control exclusion.
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 points that cause more argument in the wine trade than the premium.
Importing makes you the producer
When buying outside the EU, liability moves from the winemaker to you. Under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code the injured party only has to show the defect, the loss and the connection between them. Record the supplier and the lot number for each batch. Without those records you cannot pass the claim on and it stays with you.
Serving brings obligations of its own
Tastings in the shop are good for turnover and increase the risk. Alongside the chance of injury there is the age limit in the Alcoholwet (the Dutch alcohol act). A fine or a suspension of your licence is an administrative sanction and covered on no liability insurance. Record your identity checks and serving policy in writing.
Glass, shelving and lifting
Shelving falling over, a broken bottle on a slippery floor or back complaints from carrying boxes are the usual claims here. For visitors, Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code applies where the premises are defective. For staff the insurer tests whether you met the duty of care in Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code with lifting aids and instruction.
Delivery to homes and to the trade
When delivering you damage door frames, floors and restaurant furniture. That property damage falls under the AVB as long as it does not happen with the vehicle. The wine delivered itself does not: that is property in your care and, while in transit, the subject of goods in transit or own goods in transit insurance.
What does your premium depend on?
- Turnover and purchasing route: importing yourself weighs more heavily than buying from a Dutch importer
- Own label or own bottling: formally makes you the producer
- Payroll: the basis for employer's liability
- Tastings and serving on the premises: the public in the shop increases the risk
- Own delivery service: delivering to consumers and to the trade calls for extra cover
- 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 bottle from a batch you imported bursts in a customer's hand | Yes | No |
| Your own label omits the sulphite declaration and a guest has an allergic reaction | Yes | No |
| While delivering, your sack truck puts a hole in a restaurant's parquet floor | Yes | No |
| Wine you store on consignment for a client is damaged in your warehouse | No | No |
| Your storage advice is wrong and a client's cellar becomes unsaleable | No | Yes |
| Your online shop supplies a different vintage from the one ordered and the buyer loses his onward sale | No | Yes |
As soon as the loss is limited to money someone else does not receive, the AVB stops and the territory of professional indemnity begins.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I buy from a Dutch importer. Am I the producer then?
In principle, no. If you can identify within a reasonable period who the producer or the importer within the European Union is, liability under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code moves to that party. If you cannot, for example because your records do not show the origin, you are treated as the producer yourself. Recording lot numbers is therefore no formality.
Is spoilage of a batch of wine insured?
Not on liability insurance. Damage to your own trading stock is not liability towards a third party. For that, look at stock or goods insurance. The AVB only comes into play once the wine causes damage to someone else, for example injury from glass or a reaction to an allergen that was not declared.
A customer falls in the shop over a wet floor. What now?
That is personal injury for which you can be liable under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, and where there is a defect in the premises under Article 6:174 DCC. It is a covered AVB claim. Report the incident to the insurer at once, as Article 7:941 DCC prescribes, and record whether warning signs were in place and when cleaning was done.
Does the policy cover a fine for selling to a minor?
No. Administrative fines and measures against your licence are a punishment and not compensation; they are excluded on every liability insurance. Loss of turnover during a suspension is not covered either. For defending yourself in enforcement proceedings you can look at business legal expenses insurance.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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