Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for a self-employed AI consultant
You work with your client's data in tools that belong to someone else. That is where the risk sits, and no amount of good calculation solves it.
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In brief
As a self-employed AI consultant you work close to delivery: you build pipelines, set up integrations, tune models to a specific dataset and train teams to work with them. If something goes wrong, the client does not claim for damaged equipment but for the cost of a project that has to be done again. Professional indemnity insurance is intended for that type of loss; what it does at heart is set out on the hub page on the BAV.
Your first point of attention is confidentiality and data flows. Client data that you process in an external model or a cloud service leaves your client's environment. If your contract contains a confidentiality clause or a ban on processing outside the client's own infrastructure, that act is a breach of contract, quite apart from whether anything leaks. Where personal data is involved, the requirements on transfers and on the processing agreement under Article 28 of the GDPRapply as well. Deliberately breaching an express ban also engages the exclusion for intent and wilful recklessness in Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code.
The second point is the boundary between advising and delivering. As long as you recommend and guide, this is professional liability. If you deliver working software, the discussion becomes one about defective performance, and many policies exclude remaking or repairing what was delivered. Some insurers even exclude software development from the BAV altogether. Have the policy schedule state what you actually do; see also professional indemnity insurance for IT consultants.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
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Professional indemnity insurance (BAV)
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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 weigh more heavily for a self-employed professional in this field than the rate.
Contractor agreements with large clients
Corporates and government bodies delete your limitation of liability, require a minimum sum insured and include indemnities for third-party claims, for example about intellectual property. An indemnity is a contractual obligation going beyond what the law imposes on you, and it is precisely that obligation which falls outside the cover. Read this before you sign and negotiate the wording, rather than arguing about the policy afterwards.
Checking outputs is part of your job
A generated summary, piece of code or analysis can be convincing and wrong. If you incorporate it into a deliverable without checking, that is not a technical fault but a failure in your duty of care as a contractor, which follows from Article 7:401 of the Dutch Civil Code. Set out in your quotation which verification steps you carry out and which checks are for the client.
Licences for models and datasets
Open weights do not mean free use. Restrictions on commercial use, mandatory attribution or conditions on derivative works land with your client as soon as he takes the model into production. Infringement of intellectual property rights is excluded on virtually every BAV. Document the licence and the version for each component.
What the policy does not cover
Alongside the exclusions mentioned, the following remain outside the cover: fines and penalty payments, as do repaying your fee and putting your own work right and liability under guarantees about accuracy, savings or lead time. A circumstance you already knew about when taking out the policy is not insurable. If you fail to report it, Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code affect the payout.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for a self-employed professional
- Nature of the assignments: strategic advice, implementation or development
- Client sectors: applications with consequences for individuals weigh more heavily
- Access to production environments: working inside the client's systems increases the risk
- Sum insured required: clients set their own requirements for this
- Retroactive and run-off periods: claims sometimes follow long after completion
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A pipeline of yours writes incorrect figures for months and the management reports have to be redone | No | Yes |
| An integration you set up brings your client's order process to a standstill for a day | No | Yes |
| A script of yours wipes the client's acceptance environment | No | Provided that |
| An employee of the client is injured by equipment you brought in and connected | Yes | No |
| You drop a borrowed test laptop belonging to the client off the table | Provided that | No |
| The turnover you lose because the engagement is ended after the incident | No | No |
Your own loss is never insured loss. What counts is the detriment your client suffers.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I used model output in a report that turned out to be factually incorrect. Is that covered?
If it is a mistake in the practice of your profession, it fits the character of the cover. The assessment turns on whether you should have checked the output and whether you pointed out the limitations of the method to the client. If you expressly left that check to the client and it is recorded, your position is considerably stronger.
My client demands unlimited liability. Can I insure that?
No. Every policy has a maximum per claim and per insurance year. If you sign nonetheless, you carry everything above that limit privately, or through your company. Instead, try to agree a limit that matches your sum insured, and in any event restrict consequential loss and indemnities. Liability you take on by contract is also often excluded.
I work through a contracting agency. Whose terms apply?
Usually those between the agency and the end client, passed down into your own agreement. Ask for the terms that have been passed down and check whether the agency indemnifies you or instead keeps a right of recourse against you. Also ask whether you are covered under a policy held by the agency. Without that answer there is a real chance of being caught between two parties when a claim arises.
What if client data leaks through my account?
Then it is a security incident and not a professional error. The costs of investigation, restoration and informing data subjects belong on a cyber insurance, which usually also covers liability towards those affected. Report the incident to your client at once; as the controller he is bound by the notification deadline in the GDPR (AVG).
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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