Specification · cable strikes · seasonal work
Business legal expenses insurance (rechtsbijstandverzekering) through Avéro Achmea for green space and agricultural contracting
Landscapers, grounds maintenance firms and agricultural contractors work on other people's land, often for a local authority. The specification and the cables in the ground decide where things go wrong.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Zakelijke rechtsbijstandverzekering via Avéro Achmea voor groen en loonwerk.
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.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Anyone working for local authorities or housing associations signs a specification with quality requirements, inspection points and penalty arrangements. The conflict rarely arises about the planting itself, but about whether the agreed standard of appearance was achieved and whether a deduction was rightly withheld. In legal terms this is a contract for work within the meaning of Article 7:750 of the Dutch Civil Code, with a duty to warn under Article 7:754 of the Dutch Civil Code as soon as you see that the instruction or the ground is unsuitable. Anyone who plants on unsuitable ground without saying so keeps the liability if the planting fails.
As an independent intermediary we compare several insurers. Avéro Achmea is one of the insurers we can place business with. What suits you follows from the nature of your work and not from the name. You can read background on this insurer at Avéro Achmea. A related sector page is agricultural legal expenses.
The second theme is cable strikes. For groundworks, felling trees or installing irrigation you have to request the location of cables and pipes and have the data available on site. That follows from the WIBON. If you hit a pipe without having met that obligation, the network operator is in the right before the discussion begins. The claim itself runs through your public and employers' liability insurance; legal expenses come into play if you want to recover the costs from whoever supplied the drawing incorrectly.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare personal legal expenses insurance (rechtsbijstandverzekering).
What to look out for
Four points on which landscaping and contracting businesses judge this policy.
Tendering and the client's terms
In a tender the client's terms apply, including penalty clauses and long payment periods. A dispute about the award itself is administrative or civil in nature and does not fall within every module. If you want to challenge an award decision, the deadlines are very short; check in advance whether this type of case is handled.
Establishment guarantees and aftercare
A guarantee that planting will establish is a contractual undertaking and not insurance cover. If the plants die through drought, browsing or an unsuitable position, the discussion is about who should have done the aftercare. Record the maintenance obligation and the weather-related exceptions in writing. Without that record the lawyer has nothing to work with.
Seasonal staff and on-call contracts
Green and contract work peaks. If you work with on-call staff, after a time an offer of fixed hours follows, and on dismissal the grounds in Article 7:669 of the Dutch Civil Codeapply. Do not forget your duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code for work with chainsaws, chippers and tractors either. That claim runs through liability, the aftermath in the personnel file through legal expenses.
Machinery: ownership, hire and care, custody and control
If you hire a crane, chipper or tractor, damage to that machine is not liability but a matter between you and the hire company, and on the liability policy you run into the care, custody and control exclusion. A dispute with the hire company about the condition of the plant or about downtime charged on falls under contracts, provided that module is included.
What does your premium depend on?
- Nature of the work: maintenance, construction, tree care or contract work for third parties
- Type of clients: private individuals, businesses or public bodies with specifications
- Annual turnover and payroll: including peak months and seasonal staff
- Work disturbing the ground: digging and felling increase the number of disputes
- Modules chosen: contracts, employment, debt collection, administrative law, traffic
- Machinery and hired plant: own plant or hiring in as a matter of course
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
Which conflict the policy takes on
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| A client leaves a four-month-old invoice unpaid despite reminders | Provided that | Yes |
| The network operator recovers the cost of a struck gas pipe from your business | No | No |
| The labour inspectorate starts an investigation after an accident with a chipper | No | Provided that |
| A newly delivered mower keeps breaking down and the supplier points to how it is used | No | Yes |
| An employee objects to dismissal after repeatedly arriving late | Provided that | Yes |
| You challenge an additional payroll tax assessment from the Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority) | No | Provided that |
Where another party holds you responsible for loss, the liability insurer conducts the defence and legal expenses only come into play if you want to recover something yourself.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
The local authority is withholding a deduction under the specification. Can I challenge that?
Yes, provided the contracts module is included and the dispute arose after the waiting period. The lawyer looks at the measuring method, the recorded appearance standard and the inspection reports. Your own dated photographs are often decisive here. Respond in writing and within the period stated in the specification, because an inspection that is not disputed is later taken as established.
Who pays for a struck cable?
The damage to the cable and the network operator's consequential loss run through your liability insurance. Whether there is cover depends on whether you made the excavation notification and verified the position on site. If that is missing, the insurer can point to a lack of care. Legal expenses only help if you want to recover costs from a third party.
Are disputes with subcontractors covered?
Under the contracts module they usually are. It is important to record which part of the work was subcontracted and on what terms. Towards your client you remain responsible for your subcontractor's work, even if the subcontractor got it wrong. The lawyer then runs two lines: a defence towards the client and recovery from the subcontractor.
What if I only discover much later that the work was defective?
For a contract for work, a claim about a defect becomes time-barred in principle two years after the protest was made, with an outside limit of twenty years. That is set out in Article 7:761 of the Dutch Civil Code. If you discover a defect in a supplier's work yourself, protest in writing straight away, because Article 6:89 DCC requires you to complain within a reasonable time.
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