Official acts · client money · disciplinary law
Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for a self-employed bailiff
A bailiff works with deadlines, attachments and other people's money. A mistake in any of the three can be traced directly and is almost always financial in nature.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zelfstandige gerechtsdeurwaarder.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
A bailiff's work is bound by form and by deadlines. A writ served at the wrong address, an attachment levied on a party holding nothing belonging to the debtor, an enforcement that goes ahead when the client had already agreed to a payment arrangement: these are not errors of judgement but identifiable failings. The consequences are financial. A default judgment set aside because of defective service costs time, court fees and sometimes the claim itself.
Two standards run alongside each other. Towards your client, the care of a reasonably competent contractor in Article 7:401 of the Dutch Civil Codeapplies. Towards the debtor and towards third parties, the basis is tort, Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. Where an attachment is wrongly levied or goes too far, or where the protected minimum income (beslagvrije voet) has been calculated incorrectly, it is the other party that claims against you, not your client. Make sure your policy covers claims by third parties and not only by clients.
You also manage money that is not yours. The special account under Article 19 of the Dutch Bailiffs Act keeps client money apart from your own assets. A payment on to the wrong party, or a transfer that is left undone, immediately produces a claim. Loss of client money through theft or misappropriation falls outside the cover on most professional indemnity policies and calls for a separate arrangement. For the debt collection work itself, see liability in debt collection.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
What to look out for
Four subjects that weigh more heavily in this office than the size of your caseload.
Deadlines are fatal, for you too
A writ issued too late, a missed interruption of a limitation period or an expired appeal period makes a claim impossible to put right. The loss is then the claim itself, not your fee. Work with a monitoring system with double checks on critical dates and record when you received an instruction. The moment of receipt often determines whether the criticism lies with you or with the client.
An attachment affects someone who is not a client
Where an attachment is levied on the wrong goods, a third-party attachment is served on the wrong party or the protected minimum income is applied incorrectly, the claim comes from the debtor or from a third party. That is liability in tort, with its own burden of proof and its own defence costs. Check whether your policy expressly covers this category of claims.
Enforcement is at the client's own risk
Anyone enforcing a judgment that is later set aside acts in principle at their own risk. That risk lies with the enforcing party, but the bailiff is often joined in the proceedings. So record in writing that you act on express instructions and what warning you gave, certainly in an eviction or an execution sale.
Exclusions in official work
Not covered are disciplinary sanctions, fines and penalty payments, the loss of client money through theft or misappropriation without a separate arrangement, and the refund of your own official fees or charges. Intent and wilful recklessness are excluded; Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code provides the statutory basis for that. When you apply, check whether the cost of defending disciplinary proceedings is included or not.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: from official and non-official work together
- Balance between official acts and debt collection: two different risk profiles in one office
- Number of cases per year: volume increases the chance of a missed deadline
- Amount of client money held: decisive for the requirements placed on your handling of money
- Sum insured per claim: matched to the largest claim you handle
- Claims and complaints history: earlier claims and disciplinary cases are taken into account
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| You serve a writ at an address where the debtor no longer lives and the default judgment is set aside | No | Yes |
| You interrupt a limitation period too late and your client's claim can no longer be recovered | No | Yes |
| You levy a third-party attachment on an employer who stopped employing the debtor months ago | No | Provided that |
| The debtor's household contents are damaged during an eviction | Provided that | No |
| Client money disappears from the special account through misappropriation | No | No |
| The debtor becomes insolvent before the attachment yields anything and your client claims against you | No | No |
Claims by a debtor or a third party follow a different basis from those of your client; check that both are on the policy.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A default judgment has been set aside because of a mistake in service. What now?
Report the matter to your insurer at once. The loss consists of the cost of the new proceedings and possibly of the claim that can no longer be recovered. Your client will argue that a reasonably competent bailiff would have verified the address. Keep the address research and the search of the population register. That is the heart of your defence.
Are disciplinary costs included?
The sanction itself, such as a reprimand or a fine, is never insurable. It is a penalty and not compensation. The cost of legal assistance in disciplinary proceedings can be arranged with some insurers as an additional section. Ask about it expressly when you apply, because a disciplinary case often precedes a civil claim about the same file.
I stand in for another office. Whose policy am I under then?
That depends on the engagement and on the class of insured persons on that office's policy. If you stand in on your own account, you need your own cover with a professional capacity that names locum work. Have it confirmed in writing whether you count as an insured person and whether the insurer can seek recovery from you after paying a claim.
At what point must I report a threatened dispute?
As soon as you can reasonably suspect that a claim will follow, for instance in interim proceedings to lift an attachment or a complaint to the disciplinary chamber for bailiffs. The notification period and the duty to cooperate follow from Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code. Under a claims-made policy, that also allocates the matter to the current insurance year.
Read more
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