Liability
- Damage to third parties
- Employers' liability
- Care, custody and control as an extension
Liability for process operators
A process operator breaks nothing with their own tools; they operate someone else's plant, and a wrong intervention destroys a batch or brings the factory to a standstill.
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- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
This page in another language: Nederlands
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.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
What sets an operator apart from the fitters around them is that they deliver no work of their own. They operate the process: valve positions, setpoints, dosing, alarm handling and starting up and shutting down. A mistake there leads to a contaminated batch, product loss, a rejected consignment or unplanned downtime. That is usually not damaged property but financial loss, and it is precisely that type of loss that falls outside public and employers' liability insurance.
The second point is your legal position. If you are employed, Article 7:661 of the Dutch Civil Code limits your liability towards your employer to intent and wilful recklessness, and the employer carries the loss under Article 6:170 DCC. If you work as a self-employed professional under the client's direction, that protection does not apply and you face the full amount yourself.
Outside the cover: damage to the installation you operate as long as care, custody and control is not insured, downtime losses without prior damage, fines and contractual deductions, and acting contrary to the work permit or the procedure manual. For the environment in which this arises, see the page on petrochemicals.
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What does liability cover for process operators?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
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
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.
What does your premium depend on?
- Type of installation. Water and food are weighted differently from chemicals, gas or installations with hazardous substances.
- Operating responsibility. Panel operation and independent starting up and shutting down weigh more heavily than field work under supervision.
- Employment or self-employed engagement. As a self-employed professional you lack the limitation in Article 7:661 DCC. That increases your own exposure.
- Care, custody and control cover on the installation. Insuring the equipment you operate, with its own limit per event.
- Requested sum insured. Clients in the process industry set their own minimum requirement per claim.
- Certification and experience. VAPRO level, VCA and a demonstrable induction period on the installation concerned.
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.
Why 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.
9.5New policy
9.8Claims handling
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.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
The installation you operate is property in your care
You stand at the panel and at the valves of someone else's factory. If a wrong switching operation damages a compressor, a reactor or a catalyst bed, that is damage to property you had in your care. Care, custody and control is outside the cover as standard. Have the extension included and have it recorded that it applies to the whole installation your operation relates to, not only to individual items of equipment.
Product loss is rarely property damage
A raw material dosed incorrectly or a missed alarm produces an off-spec batch. The product is not damaged. It simply does not meet the specification. Insurers often classify that as financial loss and reject it under the AVB. Discuss this type of loss by name when taking out the policy and have it recorded whether contamination of a batch and rejection of a consignment fall within the cover.
Self-employed or employed changes who pays
In employment, Article 7:661 DCC applies: your employer carries the loss unless you acted deliberately or with wilful recklessness, and the injured party holds the employer liable under Article 6:170 DCC. As a self-employed professional that buffer falls away. The party hiring you in can be held liable under Article 6:171 DCC, but then recovers the loss from you. Have your contractual liability capped before you start a job.
The work permit and the procedure are conditions of cover
Bypassing an interlock, ignoring an alarm or departing from the start-up procedure are exactly the actions an insurer falls back on when rejecting a claim. Keep the work permit, the log of your actions and the handover to the next shift for every shift. When there is a loss, that file determines whether there was an operating error or a deliberate departure, and that difference decides the payment.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
As an employed operator, am I personally liable?
Almost never. Article 7:661 DCC limits your liability towards your employer to intent or wilful recklessness, and towards third parties your employer steps forward under Article 6:170 DCC. If, on the other hand, you work as a self-employed professional, that protection is entirely absent and you carry the loss yourself, even for a simple operating error.
Is a shutdown of the factory covered?
Only where that shutdown results from damage that is itself covered. If nothing is damaged and the factory only has to be cleaned and restarted, it is pure financial loss. That falls outside standard public and employers' liability insurance. When taking out the policy, have it checked whether your policy excludes downtime without prior property damage.
What happens if I have bypassed an alarm?
Then the discussion shifts from a mistake to a deliberate act. If the bypass was recorded and authorised in accordance with the procedure, it remains an operating matter. If it was not, the insurer can rely on the exclusion for acting contrary to instructions or on Article 7:952 DCC. Document every departure at the time.
My client demands a high sum insured. Can they just do that?
Yes, that is a contractual requirement and not a statutory one. In the process industry the client sets the requirement because the consequential loss from an operating error bears no relation to your rate. Check that requirement before the assignment starts and align your sum insured with it. Also try to cap your liability in the contract.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare personal liability insurance (AVP)The main page
- Liability in flange assembly: care, custody and control and consequential lossTorque, gasket, records
- Liability in the petrochemical industryCertification, consequential loss, VCA
- Liability in the offshore sectorCertification, area of operation, high sums insured
- Liability for welders in the petrochemical industryCertification, welding procedure, consequential loss
- Liability for pipefittersAssembly, torque, test pressure
- Liability in the energy sectorInstallations, consequential loss, certification
- Liability for weldersFire-hazardous work, checks afterwards, certificates
- Liability insurance for secretarial servicesTime limits, correspondence, confidentiality
Ready to compare?
Request a quote without obligation. We will look at which insurer best matches your activities and your risk.
Prefer to call? 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 09:00–17:00.
Claim on the road? Emergency line 06 - 55 20 40 72.
About our service
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.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
This page was compiled by Finass Verzekert (LinkedIn). Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.