Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for an IT consultant
Clients require this insurance before you even start. The question is what cover the contract actually demands and whether your policy really meets it.
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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.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
As a self-employed IT consultant you supply knowledge, not goods. If something goes wrong, the client's loss is almost always financial: an architectural choice that turns out after a year not to scale, authorisations set too widely so that an audit fails, a script that quietly overwrites records in production, or advice to extend a supplier contract that turns out more expensive. That is called pure financial loss and that is what this policy is intended for.
A point self-employed professionals often underestimate: you do not have an employee's protection. A consultant in employment is only liable under Article 7:661 of the Dutch Civil Code in cases of intent or wilful recklessness. If you work as a contractor, that threshold does not apply. You are judged on the duty of care in Article 7:401 of the Dutch Civil Code and you carry your own mistake, even when you are in fact part of the client's team.
When working with others, watch Article 7:407(2) of the Dutch Civil Code: if you take on one engagement together with another self-employed professional, each of you is liable for the whole. If you work through a broker or a secondment agency, check who is formally your client and which terms apply. For injury and damage to property on site you also need public and employers' liability insurance needed.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
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We compare your professional indemnity insurance (BAV) across dozens of insurers, explain where the real differences lie, and arrange the switch from start to finish — without you having to chase it yourself.
Professional indemnity insurance (BAV)
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Get coveredWhy 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.
What to look out for
Four points that pinch more often for a self-employed consultant than the premium.
What the contract requires of you
Clients name a sum insured, but sometimes mean per claim and sometimes per year. Requirements about area of cover, about cover continuing after the engagement ends and about including people standing in for you are also in the small print. Test those requirements before you sign; amending a policy afterwards usually cannot be done with retrospective effect.
Run-off cover after the engagement ends
Claims come in years after delivery, while your policy runs on a claims-made basis basis: what counts is the moment of notification, not of the mistake. If you stop, take a job or switch insurers, arrange the run-off period before you cancel. Afterwards, run-off cover is usually no longer available.
Working under the client's direction
In a scrum team it is hard to establish afterwards who made which choice. Record your advice, your warnings and the decisions taken by the client in writing. If the client deliberately departs from your advice, contributory fault under Article 6:101 of the Dutch Civil Codecomes into play, but only if you can show that you gave a warning.
What is excluded
Excluded are, among others intent and wilful recklessness (Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code), fines and penalty payments, liability arising solely from a warranty, indemnity or penalty clause, loss from delay due to a missed deadline and redoing your own work, including refunding your hourly rate.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover or hourly rate: the basis on which the premium is calculated
- Type of assignments: architecture and migration weigh more heavily than support
- Clients: government, healthcare and financial institutions set stricter requirements
- Conditions applied: your own terms or those of the client
- Retroactive period: the further back the retroactive date, the higher the premium
- Sum insured and excess: per claim and capped per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A script you put into production overwrites records and the client hires a firm to restore the data | No | Yes |
| Your architectural choice turns out after a year not to scale and the client has to invest again | No | Yes |
| The client ignored your written warning and then holds you liable anyway | No | Yes |
| A client's monitor falls off the desk because you trip over your own cable | Yes | No |
| Your own laptop with client code goes missing on the way to an engagement | No | No |
| The client demands back the hours you spent on a feature that does not work | No | No |
Even a claim you eventually fend off brings defence costs, and those go with the policy that handles the claim.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
My client requires a higher amount than I have now. What do I do?
The sum insured can be adjusted, but that takes effect from the date of the change. If the engagement is already running, report that when you apply. Also check whether the requirement applies per claim or per insurance year. That difference is large if several claims come in during one year. We compare the offers from several insurers side by side on this point.
Am I liable if the client ignores my advice?
In principle not, provided you gave the advice and the warning in writing. A consultant is expected to name risks, even when that does not suit the client. If the client then deliberately chooses otherwise, the cause shifts to him. Without a record that can no longer be shown afterwards and the discussion keeps coming back to your own duty of care.
I work through a secondment agency. Who is my client?
Usually the agency, because that is who you contract with. When a mistake occurs it seeks recovery from you, often on the basis of terms that pass on its liability to the end client. Check whether your policy also covers claims by parties further along that chain and whether the limit matches what the agency itself has promised.
Do I really need both liability policies as a sole trader?
Almost always, yes. As soon as you work at clients' offices, something can break or someone can trip over your cable. That is damage to property and injury and falls outside this policy. Many clients require both covers in the contract. An overview of the combination for your profession is on the insurance package for self-employed professionals in IT.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
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