Assessment · data to third parties · waiting lists
Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for a psychology practice
In a psychology practice, loss rarely arises during a session. It arises the moment a test result, a diagnosis or a report leaves the practice and influences a decision elsewhere.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een psychologenpraktijk.
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 largest source of claims is providing data to a third party. A report to an employer, a company doctor, a local authority or an insurer may only be sent with the client's specific consent; Article 7:457 of the Dutch Civil Code lays down the duty of confidentiality. If information goes to a party not entitled to it, a complaint follows and often a claim for the detriment suffered: a job that fell through, a benefit that was stopped. Such loss is pure financial loss and this insurance is intended for it.
The second source is assessment. A test result normed incorrectly, a conclusion resting on one instrument, a classification adopted without further testing: if a school recommendation, a return-to-work programme or a choice of treatment is built on it, the loss is concrete. So record for each report which instruments were used, who administered them and what limitations attach to the conclusion. What professional cover does in general is set out on the hub page.
The third source is organisational: a client on the waiting list whose condition deteriorates without anyone making contact, a referral left unattended, a crisis arrangement not handed over during a holiday. The practice is held to account for that, not the individual practitioner. Make sure the policy names the practice as a legal entity and all practitioners, locums and interns as insured persons, and that the sum insured matches what health insurers require in their contracts.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
What a practice comes up against
Four subjects that produce a claim at a psychology practice more often than the treatment itself.
Consent for each recipient and each document
General consent at intake is too thin. Ask for consent for each report and each recipient, let the client see the document in advance and provide no more than is needed. An email to the wrong addressee is the most common privacy failure in this profession. Use secure sending and a fixed check on attachments.
Record-keeping and retention periods
Under Article 7:454 of the Dutch Civil Code you keep a file and retain it for the statutory period. In a claim years later, that file is your only defence. Arrange who manages the files if a practitioner leaves or the practice closes, and make sure that clients' requests for destruction are recorded in writing with the date and the scope.
Do not mix treating and assessing
A practitioner who writes an opinion about their own client for a third party ends up in a dual role. Professional codes reject that and complaints committees take it seriously. Separate treatment and assessment organisationally and set out in the treatment agreement which statements you do not issue.
What falls outside the policy
The following are not covered, among others: a health insurer reclaiming care that has been invoiced, administrative fines, disciplinary sanctions against a practitioner, providing your own care again, and loss caused by intent or wilful recklessness under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. A material review or a dispute with a health insurer belongs with legal expenses, not here.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover of the practice: the basis for the rate
- Number of practitioners and their registration: basic psychologist, healthcare psychologist or clinical psychologist
- Share of assessment and reporting for third parties: weighs more heavily than supportive sessions
- Target group: youth work, forensic care and work-related programmes differ greatly
- Sum insured per claim and per year: often prescribed in care contracts
- Retroactive and run-off periods: needed when the treatment team changes
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A school recommendation is built on a test result scored against the wrong norm group | No | Yes |
| A report to a local authority contains a classification never checked by a second practitioner | No | Yes |
| An intern holds sessions in your name and makes an error of judgement | No | Provided that |
| A visitor trips over an extension lead in your waiting room | Yes | No |
| A client smashes the furniture in your consulting room during a session | No | No |
| A health insurer terminates your contract and turnover falls | No | No |
The professional cover follows the content of your advice or report; anything that happens in the building or to property runs through business liability.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
An employer demands access to an employee's file. Is that allowed?
No, not without the client's own specific written consent. Your duty of confidentiality follows from Article 7:457 of the Dutch Civil Code and from the professional code. If you do provide data and the client suffers detriment as a result, that is a professional error with a claim for compensation. Refer the employer to the company doctor and record the refusal in the file.
Is a disciplinary complaint against one of our psychologists covered?
Disciplinary proceedings do not lead to compensation, so in principle liability insurance does not come into play. Some insurers pay the defence costs through a separate clause, certainly where the same facts can also lead to a civil claim. Ask about it when you apply and otherwise consider legal expenses cover.
A client dies and the surviving relatives hold us liable. What now?
Report it to your insurer at once; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to report as soon as you know of the claim. Admit no liability and give no information from the file to relatives without legal advice, because the duty of confidentiality continues after death. The insurer assesses whether the conduct met the professional standard.
What if our client system is held to ransom?
That is a matter of business continuity and data protection, not a professional error. Recovery, forensic investigation, notifying the data subjects and liability towards clients belong on cyber insurance for psychologists. Also think about the loss of turnover through business interruption insurance.
Read more
Within Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
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