Subcontracting · indemnities · run-off cover
Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for a self-employed energy adviser
Many self-employed energy advisers work through a larger consultancy or an installer. The claim arrives there and is then passed on to you.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zelfstandige energieadviseur.
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.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
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- 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.
In brief
As a self-employed adviser you rarely face the end user directly. You carry out the survey or the bespoke advice for a consultancy, an installer or a home improvement service, and that party invoices the customer. If the customer complains, your client is held liable and then comes to you on the strength of the indemnity in your contract. Your policy must then cover claims by your own client. That is not self-evident with every insurer and it is set out in the conditions, not in the quotation.
The second point is the scale of the consequences. Advice on insulation, a heat pump or a ventilation system concerns an investment that is then carried out. If the sizing is too tight or the starting point wrong, it is not only your fee that is at stake but also the modification of an installed system. That amount bears no relation to what you charged for the survey. The test is Article 7:401 of the Dutch Civil Code: did you act as a reasonably competent professional would.
If you damage something in the home during an inspection, that is damage to property and belongs on the public and employers' liability insurance. Most self-employed people in this field need both covers. If you work regularly for one consultancy, also look at professional liability for energy consultancies to see what your client has insured.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
What to look out for
Four subjects that make the difference for a self-employed energy adviser.
The indemnity in your subcontract
Many consultancies have self-employed professionals sign a full indemnity for everything arising from their work, sometimes with no limit in time or amount. Your policy does have a limit. Negotiate a liability that matches your sum insured, and consider whether the consultancy may amend your work without your having any further say in it.
Working on an entire portfolio
If you advise a landlord or housing association on a series of comparable properties, one wrong assumption works through in every file. Insurers treat such related claims as one claim under one limit. On an engagement like that, assess in advance whether your amount per claim is sufficient. In that case the annual limit gives no extra room.
Run-off cover is no luxury in this work
Advice on making a property more sustainable is often only judged after one or two heating seasons, and sometimes only when the property is sold. If you stop, take a job or switch insurers, those complaints still come. Without run-off cover you carry them yourself, even if you were properly insured at the time. Arrange the run-off period before you end the policy.
Outside the cover
Not covered are the cost of redoing your own survey or calculation, fines and penalty payments imposed on you, and liability arising from a guaranteed saving or label improvement. A survey deliberately completed too favourably is intent and falls under the exclusion in Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Work outside the professional capacity described on the policy, such as carrying out installation work yourself, also falls outside it.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the basis for the premium
- Housing or commercial construction: larger buildings mean larger consequential loss
- Number of clients: working for one consultancy gives a different risk profile
- Size of the assignments: individual homes or an entire portfolio
- Sum insured per claim: often prescribed by your client
- Run-off period: the period after termination for which you still want cover
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| The heat pump is sized too tightly on your advice and has to be replaced | No | Yes |
| You drill through a pipe in the cavity during an inspection | Yes | No |
| You record cavity insulation that turns out not to be there and the label has to be revised | No | Yes |
| The occupant claims against you directly although you received the engagement from a consultancy | No | Provided that |
| Your client sets your invoice off against the cost of a remedial visit | No | No |
| Your van with measuring equipment is emptied overnight | No | No |
A mistake in a survey lasting a couple of hours can affect a complete installation; set the sum insured by that consequence and not by your rate.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
The consultancy I work for is insured. Do I still need my own policy?
Yes, unless you are expressly named as co-insured on their policy. As standard, a consultancy's policy covers its own organisation, and the insurer can seek recovery from you after paying a claim. On top of that, most contracts require you to be insured yourself. Ask for written confirmation if you believe you fall under their cover.
I advise, someone else installs. Where does my responsibility end?
Your liability runs up to and including what you advised and calculated. If the installer departs from your assumptions, the fault shifts to him. So set out in your advice which installation requirements apply and on what conditions the result holds. Without that record the parties point at each other when a complaint arrives and your insurer pays first.
Do I have to report a complaint before a lawyer becomes involved?
Yes. Report as soon as you can reasonably suspect that a claim will follow; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires prompt notification and cooperation with the handling of the claim. Under a claims-made policy that notification also fixes the insurance year. Do not promise repair or a refund before the insurer has stated its position.
I am an installer as well. Does one policy cover everything?
No, those are two different risks. The advice falls under professional indemnity insurance. The installation work and the damage arising from it fall under public and employers' liability insurance. Report both activities when you apply. If you leave part of your work undisclosed, Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code on the duty of disclosure can affect payment of a claim.
Read more
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