Client requirements · private assets · sum insured
Liability insurance for self-employed professionals
For a self-employed professional (zzp'er), liability insurance covers injury and damage to other people's property, and because a sole trader has no separate legal estate, any recovery beyond the policy runs straight through to your private assets.
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
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Liability itself follows from Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code: anyone who unlawfully causes loss must compensate it. What sets a self-employed professional apart from a private limited company is not the risk but the recovery. A sole trader or a general partnership is not a legal entity, so there is no wall between business and private assets. A claim that exceeds the sum insured lands on your home, your savings and, if you are married in community of property, on your partner's assets.
That is why the sum insured is chosen on the basis of what can happen, not on what you turn over. Personal injury is calculated over the rest of the victim's life: loss of earning capacity, domestic help, adaptations to the home. That figure does not fall because you work alone. Clients know this and set a minimum sum insured per claim in their purchasing conditions; that requirement is contractual, because there is no statutory duty to insure as there is for motor vehicles.
Finally, pay attention to how cover is triggered. This insurance usually operates on the moment the loss occurs, whereas professional indemnity insurance is written on a claims made basis and looks at the date of notification. If you need both, you have two policies with two different timelines. The way the sections are built up is set out in our overview of public and employers' liability insurance.
What does liability insurance for the self-employed cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The basics
Liability
AVB for property damage and injury, BAV for professional errors.
Damage to third parties
Employers' liability
Care, custody and control as an extension
Your business
Assets and continuity
Business contents, goods and lost turnover during downtime.
Business contents at replacement value as new
Goods at cost price
Business interruption or additional costs
If you employ people
Staff
Sickness absence, accidents and the traffic risk.
Continued pay for 104 weeks
Group personal accident
WEGAS for traffic risks
What is covered
Situation
AVB
BAV
Cyber
Injury to a visitor or customer
Yes
No
No
Damage to a client's property
Sometimes
No
No
Financial loss caused by an advisory or calculation error
No
Yes
No
Downtime after a ransomware attack
No
No
Yes
Data breach involving personal data
No
Sometimes
Yes
Damage to property in your care
No
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Your private assets are in the queue as well
With a sole trader or a general partnership there is no separation between business and private assets. If a balance remains after the policy has paid out, the injured party recovers it from your possessions, and if you are married in community of property, from what belongs to your partner as well. A private limited company does create that separation, but it does not remove the director's personal liability. So choose the sum insured on the scenario, not on your annual figures.
You are not an employee yourself
The duty of care of Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code protects employees. If you fall off a ladder at a client's premises, there is no employer you can hold liable and this policy pays nothing: it covers damage to others, not to yourself. Only someone who in fact works under the client's authority in the client's business can sometimes rely on paragraph 4 of that article. Do not count on it; personal accident or disability cover is the answer.
Care, custody and control is the exclusion that bites most often
Damage to property in your care is excluded as standard. That hits precisely what a self-employed professional does every day: the machine you are repairing, the floor you are sanding, the hired cherry picker, the tools you borrow, the client's van. Separate cover for property in your care does exist, usually with a lower limit and an excess for each event. State exactly what will be in your care when you apply.
What else falls outside this
Not covered are pure financial loss without damaged property, loss caused by a motor vehicle because the compulsory cover under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) applies to that, the cost of redelivering or repairing your own performance, fines and contractual penalties, and intent or wilful recklessness under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Liability you take on by contract beyond what the law requires also remains at your expense.
What does your premium depend on?
Your activities. The actual activities determine the risk class; construction, engineering and care weigh more heavily than office work.
Annual turnover. Turnover is the basis of calculation with almost every insurer and is adjusted after the end of the year.
Sum insured. The sum per claim and the maximum per insurance year are two separate choices and both count.
Working at third-party sites. Anyone working at clients' premises or on building sites needs cover for property in their care. That is a separate extension with its own limit.
Working area. The Netherlands, Europe or worldwide; work in the United States and Canada is almost always excluded.
Excess and claims history. A higher excess per claim reduces the premium; earlier notifications weigh heavily in underwriting.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your activities, turnover and wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
As a self-employed professional, am I required to have liability insurance?
Not in law. Unlike motor vehicles, where Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) imposes a duty to insure, there is no general obligation. In reality the requirement comes from the contract: clients, main contractors and agencies set a minimum sum insured per claim in their conditions and ask in advance for a copy of your policy schedule.
Does this policy also cover a mistake in my advice or calculations?
No. This insurance covers injury and damage to property. If your client loses money through a calculation error, poor advice or a missed deadline without anything being damaged, that is pure financial loss and it falls under professional indemnity insurance (BAV). Anyone who both carries out work and advises needs both covers.
I am hiring a cherry picker. Is damage to it covered?
Not automatically. A hired machine is in your care, and care, custody and control is excluded as standard. The hire company will still hold you responsible, because that is what the hire agreement says. Separate cover for property in your care, or tenant's interest cover, solves this, with its own limit and an excess for each event. Arrange it before the hire period starts.
My client wants me to indemnify him. Can that be insured?
Only in so far as you take on no more than the law already imposes on you. An insurer covers your liability in law; anything you accept contractually on top of that remains uninsured. So have such clauses read before you sign. Negotiating the wording is often cheaper than carrying the risk yourself.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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