Volunteers · participants · circle of insured persons
Personal accident insurance for the welfare sector through Chubb
In welfare work, volunteers, participants and paid staff mix together. Which of them is insured is not laid down in law but in the description of insured persons.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Ongevallenverzekering voor de welzijnssector via Chubb.
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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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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Welfare organisations, community centres, foundations and associations work with people who have no contract of employment: volunteers, participants in day activities, students on placement, board members and sometimes informal carers. If someone falls off a ladder during a maintenance session, a participant cuts himself in the woodwork shop or a volunteer has a collision in a minibus, the first question is not whether you are liable, but whether that person is described as an insured person in the policy.
That is the core provision of this cover. Most policies insure people taking part in activities organised by the organisation or under its responsibility, including travelling directly to and from that activity. An outing a group of volunteers thinks up themselves falls outside it. Record activities, attendance lists and transport rotas; on a claim that is the only evidence that the event fell within the description.
Even without a contract of employment your organisation can be liable. Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code extends the duty of care to people who carry out work outside employment in the course of your activities, and volunteers fall under it in many cases. Personal accident insurance pays without any question of fault, but it does not cover that liability. For that you need liability insurance for a volunteer organisation needed.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare personal liability insurance (AVP).
What to look out for
Four points on which these policies go wrong in the welfare sector more often than the size of the payment does.
The council's volunteer policy does not cover everything
Many councils have a group scheme for volunteers active within their boundaries. That cover is often secondary, has its own definitions and stops at the council boundary. If you work regionally, with participants rather than volunteers, or with paid staff among them, do not rely on that scheme without setting the conditions alongside your own.
Participants and clients are not volunteers
A participant in day activities or a visitor to an activity does not work for you, but does run a risk. Policies naming only volunteers and staff leave that group out of account. If you want to cover participants as well, it has to say so in as many words, including any age limits and different rules on payments for young and older insured persons.
Transport by volunteers
Driving a private car or one of the organisation's minibuses is one of the biggest risks in this sector. Injury to occupants in a road accident runs in the first instance through the vehicle's third-party liability insurance, compulsory under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). Damage to the volunteer's own car falls outside that and needs a separate arrangement.
What is excluded
Excluded are illness and psychological complaints without an accident, accidents during purely private activities outside the programme, injury caused by alcohol or drugs and by taking part in hazardous sports, and intent under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Material damage, such as broken glasses or a phone, does not fall under personal accident cover either.
What does your premium depend on?
- Number of volunteers and participants — estimated per head or by activity hours
- Type of activities — maintenance work, sport and transport count more heavily than social meetings
- Group of insured persons — volunteers only, or participants and visitors as well
- Period of cover — during activities, or including travel to and from them
- Sums insured — for death, permanent disability and medical costs
- Activities abroad — camps and exchanges need a separate assessment
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
What is covered
| Situation | Volunteers | Participants too |
|---|---|---|
| A volunteer who falls off a ladder during a maintenance session | Yes | Yes |
| A board member who breaks a wrist setting up the summer market | Yes | Yes |
| A student on placement who suffers burns during a cookery activity | Provided that | Yes |
| A participant in day activities who cuts himself in the woodwork shop | No | Yes |
| A visitor who trips over a threshold during the coffee morning | No | Provided that |
| Injury at a barbecue a few volunteers arranged among themselves | No | No |
What counts is not the role someone fills in practice, but the description of insured persons on the policy schedule.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
We are covered by the council's volunteer policy. Is that enough?
Often not. Such a scheme usually applies only to volunteer work within that council area and is secondary: your own insurance and the volunteer's are looked at first. Participants, clients and paid staff generally fall outside it. Set the conditions of the council policy alongside your own cover and find the gaps before anything happens.
Does this policy cover our foundation's liability?
No. Personal accident insurance pays a fixed amount to the person affected, without fault having to be established. If a volunteer holds your organisation liable for the full loss, for example because the ladder was unsound, that claim runs through the liability insurance. The two policies dovetail but do not replace each other.
Is a volunteer insured on the way to an activity?
Usually only if the policy names travelling directly to and from the activity. A detour for a private errand interrupts that route. Look at the vehicle as well: in a collision in a private car, injury to occupants runs through that vehicle's third-party liability cover, compulsory under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM), and not through your organisation's policy.
Do I have to report an accident if there is no claim yet?
Yes. Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires notification as soon as you are reasonably aware of an event that could lead to a payment. With injury the extent may only become clear months later, while establishing permanent disability is tied to a time limit. Record straight away what happened, who was there and which activity it concerned.
Read more
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