Diagnosis · switching back on · your own parts
Liability insurance for a self-employed service engineer
As a self-employed service engineer you decide alone and usually under time pressure. The damage rarely arises when you open the cabinet, but when you switch things back on.
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- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zelfstandige storingsmonteur.
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.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
- 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 public and employers' liability insurance pays for injury and damaged property of others. In fault work almost everything around you belongs to someone else, and the installation you are working on is literally in your keeping. That falls under the care, custody and control exclusion, unless you take cover for property being worked on. What the installation then damages — the building, the stock, the rest of the production line — is ordinary property damage.
The heart of your work is diagnosis. That is where a second boundary runs: when you establish what is wrong and the client acts on your judgement, you are giving advice. If that judgement turns out to be wrong and the client suffers purely financial loss as a result, that is pure financial loss and not covered on the AVB. Professional indemnity insurance exists for that professional indemnity insurance.
Your own position is the third. As a self-employed professional you are not an employee and Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code therefore does not protect you as it protects the staff around you. You arrange your income after an electric shock or a fall from a ladder with disability insurance. Your measuring instruments and tools belong on contents or equipment cover, not on liability.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
Where things go wrong at a fault call
Four moments at which the argument about cover starts in service work.
The moment of switching back on
On start-up after a repair, everything comes under voltage or pressure at once. Burnt-out components, a burst pipe or a seized motor are then the result. Distinguish consistently: the installation itself is care, custody and control, the damage around it is ordinary property damage. Measure and photograph what you found before switching on. That shifts the burden of proof in your favour.
Safety devices temporarily switched off
Bridging a thermal cut-out, holding an emergency stop in place or bypassing an interlock in order to take readings does happen. If you forget to put it back, that is not just a slip. In such cases insurers rely on Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code, which excludes damage caused by intent and deliberate recklessness. Work with a checklist and sign off what you have put back into service.
Parts you supply yourself
If you buy in a pump, a relay or a controller and pass the cost on to the client, you are a supplier. If that part fails and damage arises, product liability under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code comes into play. Check whether your policy includes goods supplied. The costs of recovering and replacing the part itself almost always stay outside the cover.
What you take away with you
A control cabinet removed or a motor taken away to check at home remains the client's property and travels under your responsibility. If it goes missing or is damaged, that is care, custody and control and not ordinary property damage. If you drive a van, bear in mind the compulsory insurance under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) and the fact that your own injury as the driver does not fall under it.
What does your premium depend on?
- Turnover or days worked: the basis for calculating the premium
- Type of installations: domestic installations, climate control, refrigeration or industrial production
- Work outside office hours: night and weekend call-outs are weighed separately
- Property being worked on: included or not, and up to what amount
- Supply of parts: reselling also makes you a supplier
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| On start-up after your repair the cold store warms up and the stock spoils | Yes | No |
| A spark while taking readings sets fire to a stack of packaging material in the hall | Yes | No |
| The control cabinet you are working on at that moment burns out during your work | No | No |
| A relay you bought in and passed on fails, after which the pump runs dry | Provided that | No |
| Your diagnosis points to the wrong component and the client needlessly replaces an expensive controller | No | Yes |
| The client charges a deduction because you did not meet the agreed response time | No | No |
If you pass parts on, you are also a supplier; make sure the policy schedule states that goods supplied are included.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I bridged a safety device to keep the client running. Is that covered?
That becomes difficult. As long as it is a temporary, documented measure that the client knew about, there can be cover. If the bridge stays in place and damage arises as a result, the insurer will point to Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code and ask whether you behaved with deliberate recklessness. Record in writing what you bridged, why and until when.
The client says the fault would not have occurred without my work.
That is about causation, and the client has to prove it. Under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code the burden of proving the fault, the loss and the link between them lies with the party holding you liable. Wear, age or an earlier poor repair by someone else are realistic defences. Your service ticket with readings and the situation you found is the key document.
Are my measuring instruments covered?
No. Liability insurance pays for damage you cause to others, not for damage to your own belongings. Stolen or damaged meters, laptops and tools are arranged through equipment or contents cover, often with a separate provision for items left in the van overnight. Ask about that separately, because that condition differs widely between insurers.
I am often hired in by an installation company. Am I covered under their policy?
Do not count on it. An AVB covers the liability of the insured business and its employees. A self-employed professional with his own registration is in general not included, unless he is expressly named as a co-insured. Ask for that in writing. In reality almost every client actually requires you to be able to produce your own policy schedule.
Read more
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