Liability insurance for a courier company
A courier company sends people onto the road every day and has them load and unload at unfamiliar buildings. That produces two kinds of claim, which belong on different policies.
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In brief
The first theme is your own staff on the road. If a delivery rider is injured in an accident during work, that usually does not fall under the ordinary public and employers' liability insurance. The duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code reaches only so far in traffic, but the duty to act as a good employer means you must make proper provision for employees who take part in traffic for their work. There is separate cover for that. The difference between the variants is set out on the page about WEGAS and WEGAM. For a delivery business with dozens of runs a day that is not a marginal subject but the biggest gap left open.
The second theme is the depot. Sorting, stacking and moving roll cages and pallet trucks produces back and crush injuries, and racking falling over or a tail lift jamming are classic accidents at work. The duty of care under Article 7:658 DCC applies here in full, including for agency workers and hired-in drivers working under your direction under subsection 4. Record instruction, inspections of lifting and handling equipment and the use of safety footwear.
What does not belong on this policy: the consignment itself, which is property in your care and belongs on goods in transit insurance or carrier's liability cover; damage caused with the vehicles, which under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) falls; and the consequences of delay or a missed time slot for your client, which are excluded as pure financial loss. If your sorting operation is at a standstill after a fire or breakdown, that loss of turnover is a matter for business interruption insurance.
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 on which a courier company with staff is assessed differently from a self-employed driver.
Traffic cover for your drivers
A delivery rider who causes an accident himself and is injured has no counterparty to hold liable. Without separate employers' cover for taking part in traffic, you carry that risk yourself, and that applies to cycle and scooter couriers as well. Check that the cover includes all the vehicles your people actually use, and not only vans.
Hired-in drivers and charters
If you work with self-employed couriers or charter carriers, check their liability and carrier's cover each year. Towards your client you remain answerable. If they also work to your planning and instructions, your duty of care under Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code can come to rest on you, whatever the formal status of the contract.
Access to buildings and sites
Delivery staff go into entrance halls, offices, hospitals and distribution centres. A damaged lift, a glass door driven into or a parcel that hits a shop window is property damage to a third party and covered on this policy. Include in your working instructions that house rules and site inductions are followed and that damage is reported immediately.
Fines stay with the company
Overloading, parking offences and breaches of drivers' hours produce sanctions that are covered on no liability insurance. The same applies to an administrative fine after a data breach involving address details from your route system. The costs of putting matters right can be placed on cyber insurance.
What does your premium depend on?
- Payroll and number of delivery riders: the basis for the employers' section
- Number and type of vehicles: vans, bicycles and scooters weigh differently
- Depot or sorting activity: your own handling and storage changes the risk profile
- Hired-in staff and charters: counts towards your duty of care and the rating basis
- Type of consignments: valuable or chilled goods are assessed separately
- Claims history: the frequency of injury and premises damage weighs heavily
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| A sorting worker is trapped when a full roll cage tips onto his foot | Yes | Yes |
| An agency worker falls off the tail lift in the depot and suffers a back injury | Yes | Yes |
| Your cycle courier hits a pedestrian, who breaks an arm | Yes | Yes |
| The handheld terminals your client lent you are damaged in your depot | No | Provided that |
| A chilled consignment spoils because the cooling in your depot failed | No | No |
| A whole round is stolen from a van left unattended | No | No |
Extended means a policy with care, custody and control cover. For staff on the road, separate traffic cover remains necessary alongside this policy.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A delivery rider is injured in a collision he caused himself.
Then there is no liable counterparty, and ordinary public and employers' liability insurance gives no cover for this. As an employer you are expected to make proper provision for staff who take part in traffic for their work. You arrange that with separate employers' cover for taking part in traffic alongside your liability policy.
A pallet falls off the tail lift onto a parked car.
That is property damage to a third party. Whether the liability policy or the motor policy responds depends on whether the damage is connected with the use of the vehicle. With loading and unloading using the van's tail lift, the WAM cover is often engaged. Report the case to both insurers and let them settle the division between them.
Are the self-employed couriers we hire in covered?
Not automatically. They have a business of their own and therefore need liability insurance of their own. If you do want them covered, they must be named expressly on your policy. Also ask for evidence of insurance each year, because when there is a loss the injured party turns first to the company that accepted the job.
Our customer claims compensation because a delivery was late.
Loss from delay without injury or damaged property is pure financial loss and is excluded on public and employers' liability insurance. If you drive under AVC or CMR conditions, your liability for delay is moreover limited in extent. Make sure those conditions are demonstrably declared applicable to every carriage order.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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