Recall costs · your own product · traceability
Chubb recall insurance
Liability insurance covers the damage your product causes to others. Without separate recall cover you bear the cost of taking that product back off the market yourself.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Chubb recall verzekering.
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.
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- 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 product liability insurance covers injury and property damage caused by a defective product. Under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code the producer is liable for loss caused by a defect, even without fault, and that liability extends to importers and to anyone who puts their brand name on the product. What that policy does not cover is the operation that follows once you discover a defect: taking the batch off the shelves, informing customers and destroying or repairing the goods.
Those costs fall under a recall cover. The distinction that governs the whole policy is between your own costs and liability. Your own costs are transport, storage, destruction, overtime, communication and engaging a crisis adviser. Liability is about the loss others suffer. Some policies also cover customers' recall costs, such as a supermarket chain that has your batch removed from its branches. That is a separate section which you have to apply for expressly.
What falls outside it in any event is the product itself. The value of the goods recalled, the cost of producing and supplying them again and the loss of the order are not covered. That is performance of your own obligation and not a third party's loss. This is the same line as on the public and employers' liability insurance, where the cost of your own product or work also remains outside the cover.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare personal liability insurance (AVP).
What to look out for
Four points that determine whether a recall runs on insurance or falls entirely at your own expense.
The trigger has to match the description
Most policies only cover a recall that is needed because the product could cause injury or property damage. A recall for other reasons, such as a labelling error without a health risk, disappointing quality or failure to meet a specification, falls outside the cover unless those situations are expressly included.
Known defects are excluded
If you already knew when the policy was placed or during production that there was a problem, there is no cover. The same applies to continuing to supply after a defect has been established. Non-disclosure on the application also affects Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code: the insurer can then reduce or refuse the payment.
Traceability determines the scale
If you can point precisely to the batch affected using batch or lot numbers, the operation stays limited. Without those records everything has to come back and the costs mount quickly. Insurers therefore set requirements for your records and batch registration and sometimes set them out as a clause on the policy schedule.
What is not reimbursed
Outside the cover are the the value of your own product, warranty and repair obligations, fines and penalty payments from regulators, loss of turnover and reputation unless separately insured, and loss caused by intent or wilful recklessness (Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code). A recall arising solely from a change in the rules without any defect in your product is also usually outside it.
What does your premium depend on?
- Type of product: food and medical products weigh most heavily
- Annual turnover and sales markets: number of customers and spread across countries
- Position in the chain: producer, importer or private label
- Quality system and certification: inspections, HACCP and batch registration
- Sum insured and excess: per event and per insurance year
- Earlier recalls: the number and the cause weigh heavily in the assessment
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Product liability | Recall cover |
|---|---|---|
| A consumer is injured because a component of your appliance breaks off | Yes | No |
| You take the batch concerned off the market: transport, storage and destruction | No | Yes |
| A supermarket chain charges for the hours its staff spent clearing the shelves | No | Provided that |
| You engage a crisis adviser and inform all customers and end users | No | Yes |
| A customer claims compensation for the days their own production line stood idle | No | No |
| A defective coupling from your batch floods a customer's installation | Yes | No |
The liability policy looks at the loss suffered by the other party, the recall cover at the operation you have to carry out yourself.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Do I need this as well as my product liability insurance?
If you put physical products on the market, yes. The liability policy only pays once someone else suffers loss. A recall is precisely what you do to prevent loss, and those costs therefore fall outside that cover. With a large batch and many customers, the logistics and communication costs are already considerable before anyone has been injured at all.
Are my customer's costs covered?
Only if the section for third-party recall costs is included. A customer who takes your batch out of their shops incurs costs of their own and will recover them from you, often on the basis of the liability clauses in the supply agreement. If you run that risk, have that section included expressly and check what sum insured applies to it.
When do I have to notify a claim?
As soon as you reasonably know of a defect that could lead to a recall; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to do so. Do not wait until the operation is under way. Insurers usually want to agree the costs in advance and bring in a crisis adviser. Starting an expensive operation on your own and claiming afterwards often leads to discussion about how much is paid.
Am I liable if I only import the product?
Yes. Anyone who imports a product from outside the European Economic Area or puts it on the market under their own brand name is treated as a producer under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code and the articles that follow. An injured party can then hold you liable directly, whatever you have agreed with your supplier. Recovery from that supplier is a separate and often difficult route.
Read more
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