Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) through Hiscox
An agency or technology company breaks little and rarely works at height. Even so, there is a real risk of property damage and injury. It just sits in places you would not expect.
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In brief
Finass arranges cover from the range offered by Hiscox, an insurer we regularly use for service providers, creative agencies and technology companies. We have no preferred position: we compare the products of several insurers objectively. The AVB covers injury and property damage that you cause to others. What falls within that is set out on the hub page on the AVB. For tech companies there is a separate package.
The main question is where a claim belongs. A mistake in advice, a design, a campaign or a piece of software leads to a claim about money, not about injury or broken property. That is pure financial loss and it is excluded on the AVB. It belongs on the professional indemnity insurance. If personal data leaks or a client environment goes down, that is a matter for cyber insurance.
So what is left for the AVB? More than you think. The visitor who trips at your office, the rented space in which a fire or water damage occurs, the equipment you damage at a client's premises during an assignment, the cable someone falls over at a shoot or an event on location, and injuries to your own staff. For the latter, the duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Codeapplies, including for office work and for working from home.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
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We compare your business liability insurance (AVB) across dozens of insurers, explain where the real differences lie, and arrange the switch from start to finish — without you having to chase it yourself.
Business liability insurance (AVB)
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Get coveredWhy arrange it through Finass Verzekert?
We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
Independent
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
One fixed adviser
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
What to look out for
Four points that determine whether the AVB is the right policy for a service or technology business.
Pure financial loss falls outside it
A client who says your work has cost them turnover, time or money is not claiming for property damage. The AVB is not intended for that and it also does not pay the defence costs. So for businesses that mainly supply knowledge, the AVB is the smaller of the two policies. The professional indemnity insurance does the real work there.
The client's equipment and materials
Laptops, servers, test equipment, cameras and demonstration models that you have in your care temporarily fall under the care, custody and control exclusion. The same applies to hired equipment and to items you take to a location. If you want to cover that, you need express care, custody and control or electronics cover. It is not included as standard.
Clients and work abroad
With international clients, what counts is not only where you work but also under which law and which court a claim is assessed. Claims falling under the law or jurisdiction of the The United States and Canada are excluded as standard. State in advance which countries form a regular part of your market; Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code requires that disclosure.
Contractual liability and penalties
A liability you take on in a contract when the law does not impose it on you is generally not covered. The same applies to indemnities, guarantees, penalty clauses and service credits for failing to reach an agreed level. So have the purchasing terms of large clients checked against your policy before you sign, not afterwards.
What does your premium depend on?
- Turnover and number of employees: the usual bases for the rate
- Nature of the services: advice, design, software or content production
- Working on site at clients' premises: more presence means more risk of property damage
- Third-party equipment in your care: determines the need for care, custody and control cover
- Working area: the Netherlands, Europe or worldwide with exceptions
- Sum insured and excess: per claim and per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
Which policy pays
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A visitor trips over a cable at a shoot on location and breaks an arm | Yes | No |
| A fire starts during a team day in the meeting room you have hired | Yes | No |
| An employee hurts his back carrying exhibition materials | Yes | No |
| Your agency delivers a campaign with the wrong telephone number and the print run has to be done again | No | Yes |
| A bug in your software leaves a client's web shop down for a weekend | No | Yes |
| A client demands their fee back because they are unhappy with the work delivered | No | No |
The cost of redoing your own work is not insured on either policy. That remains a business risk.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A visitor falls at our office. Is that covered?
Yes, injury to third parties at your premises is exactly what the general section is there for. As the occupier of the space you are responsible for a safe situation. A loose cable or a slippery floor without a warning gives rise to liability under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. If the building itself is defective, Article 6:174 DCC also applies to the owner.
We dropped a client's laptop. Does the AVB pay for that?
Not as standard. A device you had in use or in your care falls under the care, custody and control exclusion. It can be arranged with care, custody and control cover or an electronics policy, usually with a limit of its own. Set out in your terms of engagement who carries the risk for equipment you receive from a client; that heads off the discussion before it starts.
What if a software fault causes loss at a client?
As a rule that is not an AVB loss but a professional indemnity matter, because the client suffers financial loss without anything being broken. If a system is down because of an attack or a leak, it moves to the cyber cover. Only if the fault leads to physical damage or injury does the AVB come into play. Report borderline cases to both insurers.
Our people work partly from home. Does that change anything?
For your duty of care it does. Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code also applies to the home workplace, although what is expected of you is that you give instructions and offer facilities, not that you fit out the home. Record what you have offered and what you have informed people about. Report the home-working arrangement on your application, so that the description on the policy matches practice.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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