Reserved procedures · instruction · BIG register
Professional indemnity – Nurse
You carry out procedures that may only be performed on instruction and with demonstrable competence. When a claim arises, that is the first thing to be checked, even before the question of what exactly went wrong.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Beroepsaansprakelijkheid – Verpleegkundige.
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
Claims against nurses are almost always about an error in performance with immediate consequences: an ampoule mixed up or a concentration miscalculated, tube feeding that ends up in the airway, an injection that hits a nerve, an infusion that keeps running while the line has tissued, pressure sores because the patient was not repositioned, or failing to escalate in time for a client whose condition is deteriorating. The standard is that of a good care provider under Article 7:453 of the Dutch Civil Code.
As a self-employed professional your legal position differs from that of a colleague in employment. An employee is protected by Article 7:661 of the Dutch Civil Code and the institution carries liability for their mistakes under Article 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Code. Those two provisions do not work for you. The client can bring a claim against you directly, and the institution or the placement agency can seek recovery from you, particularly if you have signed an indemnity in the contract.
So choose a policy that also insures injury and health damage arising from your professional practice; a standard form for advisory professions covers only financial detriment and is unsuitable here. See the liability insurance for care and welfare for the right form of policy and the hub page for the way the cover operates.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
What to look out for
Four points that decide the outcome of a claim for a self-employed nurse.
Record the instruction and your competence
For reserved procedures under Article 36 of the Dutch Individual Health Care Professions Act (Wet BIG) you need an instruction from a doctor, you must be competent and any directions must have been followed. Keep the request to perform, the statement of competence and the training certificates yourself, and do not rely on a client's personnel file to which you will have no access afterwards.
Indemnities in framework agreements
Placement agencies and institutions include as standard a clause under which you indemnify them in full. Liability you take on by contract which would not rest on you without that clause is excluded on virtually every policy. Have such a clause limited to your liability in law and to the sum insured under your policy.
Report where and on what you work
Intensive care, paediatric care, palliative settings, accessing a port catheter, administering cytostatic drugs and ambulance work are assessed separately. If you do not disclose these, the insurer can reduce or refuse payment under Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code, even where the mistake had nothing to do with the undisclosed activity.
What falls outside the cover
Excluded are, among others: disciplinary measures and administrative fines; intent and wilful recklessness (Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code); damage to the institution's equipment that is in your care through the care, custody and control exclusion; and claims or circumstances already known when the policy was taken out.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover from assignments: the usual basis for the premium
- Nature of the procedures: infusion and injection techniques weigh more heavily than basic care
- Setting: intensive care and emergency care differ greatly from district nursing
- Number of clients: working for several institutions calls for a broad description
- Sum insured: match it to the most demanding procedure you perform
- Retroactive and run-off periods: injury claims are often reported only after a considerable time
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A client is left with nerve damage after an injection you gave | No | Yes |
| You administer a medicine that the doctor stopped a day earlier | No | Yes |
| While moving a bed you damage the door frame in the client's home | Yes | No |
| A monitor belonging to the institution is broken while you are using it | Provided that | No |
| The family accuses you of taking jewellery during your shift | No | No |
| The placement agency claims the cost of emergency cover because you cancelled a shift | No | No |
The left-hand column is about what you knock over as you go. The right-hand column about what your actions do to the client.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
The institution says I am covered under their policy. Is that enough?
Only if it is confirmed in writing, stating your name, the period and the activities. Often the same agreement contains an indemnity clause that in fact pulls all liability back to you. Read those two provisions together. If they contradict each other, the indemnity prevails, and without a policy of your own you face the defence costs alone.
I carried out a procedure without a request to perform. Is that insured?
Usually yes, but your position is weak. The absence of an instruction does not automatically mean the insurer refuses cover, unless there is wilful recklessness. It does mean that in assessing liability it will be taken that you did not act as the Wet BIG requires, which makes a defence virtually hopeless, so the loss is paid out and comes back to you through the premium.
I have a needlestick injury. Does this insurance do anything?
No. This policy pays someone else who brings a claim against you, not you. The costs of testing and treatment run through your health insurance. If you are unable to work for a long period, a disability insurance is the product to look at. Do report the incident to the client, because as the party providing the work it is responsible for the safety measures.
Something has gone wrong, but no one has held me liable. Should I report it?
Yes. Alongside the claim, a claims-made policy also allows notification of a circumstance: an event from which a claim may arise. If you notify it during the term, a later claim remains covered under that policy, even if you have since switched insurers. Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code also obliges you to report as soon as you are reasonably aware.
Read more
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