Medication · transfers · care in the home
Professional indemnity – Home care
Home care is delivered in the client's home, usually alone and without a colleague looking on. That changes the care risk and the question of who pays for damage to the contents.
- Several insurers compared objectively
- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Beroepsaansprakelijkheid – Thuiszorg.
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.
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.
In brief
The clinical risk is familiar and concrete: a dose from a blister pack given when it had already been administered, insulin given at the wrong moment, a catheter left in too long, a client who goes down during a transfer with a hoist, deterioration that no one reports because a different member of staff comes each shift. For your staff you are liable under Article 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Code; reserved procedures may only be carried out on instruction and with demonstrable competence, as Articles 35 and 38 of the Wet BIG require.
The second risk is damage to property in the home, and that is not a professional error. A television knocked over, a floor damaged while installing a profiling bed, a fire caused by an appliance left on: that belongs on the public and employers' liability insurance. As soon as you have the client's property in your keeping, such as keys, a bank card or an aid on loan, the care, custody and control exclusion into view.
The third strand runs to your own people. Lifting, aggression, a dog in the home and working in a space not set up as a workplace make home care a sector in which Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code often becomes an issue. That duty of care also applies to agency workers and seconded staff under paragraph 4 of that article. Employer's liability is a section of the AVB and is not on this policy.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
What goes wrong in the home situation
Four subjects that make the difference in a claim in care at home.
Competence out of colleagues' sight
In an institution a member of staff can quickly consult someone. In a client's home they cannot. Arrange who is available for a second check on high-risk procedures and record for each member of staff which reserved procedures are authorised. A procedure carried out outside that authorisation is virtually impossible to defend when a claim arises, even where the result in itself was good.
Keys, bank cards and aids
Key management and handling clients' money are the classic sources of disputes. Work with watertight records and never let staff deal with banking alone. Property you have in your care is excluded on virtually every liability policy, and losing a key with an address on it is also a data breach.
Self-employed professionals and agency workers on the round
For self-employed professionals you engage, Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code can apply: the client can sue your organisation for the mistake of a non-subordinate. Include them in the class of insured persons or require them to hold their own policy and check it each year. Your duty of care for safety in the workplace applies regardless of the type of contract.
Exclusions that come up in home care
Outside the cover are: loss and theft by a member of staff, because intent is excluded (Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code); clawback of hours billed by the care administration office or the local authority; administrative fines and penalty payments; and damage to property in your keeping, including aids you manage on loan.
What does your premium depend on?
- Payroll and number of care workers: the usual basis, including casual staff
- Complexity of care: nursing procedures and palliative care weigh more heavily than support work
- Share of domestic support: determines above all the risk of damage to property in the home
- Use of self-employed contractors: determines the size of the group of insured persons
- Number of clients and working area: spread and travel change the risk profile
- Sum insured and excess: per claim and per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A wound is dressed for weeks according to an outdated protocol and a serious infection develops | No | Yes |
| A client suffers burns because the bath water was not checked | No | Yes |
| A hired-in self-employed nurse makes a mistake during catheterisation | No | Provided that |
| A member of staff damages the client's parquet floor while vacuuming | Yes | No |
| A carer suffers a back injury during a transfer carried out without an aid | Yes | No |
| A member of staff hits a parked car during the round | No | No |
Damage in the home and injury to your own staff belong on the left. Only the mistake in the care itself belongs on the right.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A member of staff damages a client's parquet floor. Is that covered?
Not on this policy. Damage to property is a matter for public and employers' liability insurance; professional indemnity insurance is about mistakes in the care itself. Do check whether the care, custody and control exclusion applies: if the member of staff was working with a hoist or other equipment you managed on the client's behalf, the cover can still fall away.
A client says money has disappeared from her purse.
A property offence by a member of staff is intent and therefore excluded under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Loss of this kind can only be covered with separate insurance against fraud and misappropriation by staff. More important is prevention: record that staff do not deal with banking, work with a second signature for cash and report every sign internally at once.
Our member of staff is bitten by a client's dog.
The keeper of the animal is liable under Article 6:179 of the Dutch Civil Code, so the client's liability insurance comes into the picture. The member of staff can also bring a claim against you as employer, because Article 7:658 DCC requires you to provide a safe workplace. Record that pets are kept separate during care visits and log earlier incidents in the client file.
We work with self-employed professionals through an agency. Who is insured then?
That depends on your policy and on theirs, and the two rarely fit together automatically. Ask each care provider for a policy schedule stating the insured activities and the sum insured, and check whether nursing procedures are stated there. Include in the agreement that a claim is first reported to the care provider's own insurer.
Read more
Within Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekeringthe main page
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering verzorgende zzp
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering kraamzorg
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering zorgbedrijf
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering wondzorg
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering wondverpleegkundige zzp
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering ergotherapeut zzp
Similar pages
- Professional indemnity – Care worker
- Professional indemnity – Maternity care
- Professional indemnity – Care company
- Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for a dietetics practice
- Professional indemnity – Occupational therapy practice
- Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for an occupational therapist
- Professional indemnity – Wound care
- Professional indemnity – Nurse