No. We are an independent insurance adviser and act as an intermediary in insurance only. You open a payment account directly with a bank or a payment institution. For credit, finance and mortgages we refer you to a specialist party. What we do handle is assessing which business insurance suits your activity and applying for it on your behalf.

That is not a statutory requirement, but it is practical. The policyholder is named on the policy schedule, and with a private limited company that is the business and not you personally. Payments and claim settlements then run most smoothly through an account in that same name. With a sole trader the naming is less strict, but it does keep your records clearer.

That depends on the nature of your work. If you work physically at clients' premises, public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) is the first cover. If you supply advice or designs, professional indemnity weighs more heavily. If you have staff, sickness absence insurance (verzuimverzekering) and employer's liability are added. We go through your activities with you before anything is taken out, so that you do not pay for cover you do not use.

Report it straight away. The policy covers the description of activities set out on the policy schedule; work outside that is not insured, even if the same business is the contractor. Under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code you must report changes in the risk, and Article 7:930 DCC gives the insurer the option of reducing the payment if that has not been done.