Care or coaching · subcontracting · video consultations
Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for a self-employed psychologist
As a self-employed psychologist you move between roles: practitioner as a subcontractor, adviser to an employer, coach in a programme without a referral. Your policy has to know all three roles, otherwise the claim falls between two stools.
- 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: Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zelfstandig psycholoog.
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
Insurers accept the risk on the basis of the description of your activities on the policy schedule. If that says only 'psychological care' and you also do career coaching, team programmes or assessments for employers, a claim arising from that last part can fall outside the cover. Conversely, a policy written for coaching specifically excludes care. Declare your whole practice and report extensions during the policy period; Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code attach consequences to an incorrect or incomplete declaration.
If you work as a subcontractor for a mental health provider, you are not an insured person on their policy unless that has been confirmed in writing. The provider is answerable to the client and then recovers the loss from you. The agreement then contains a right of recovery and a minimum sum insured. Also do not enter into an indemnity under which you take on more than the law imposes, because that part is excluded as standard. General information for self-employed professionals is at professional indemnity for self-employed professionals.
In substance this profession is about care in handling information and risk. Advice to an employer about an employee's capacity for work, a statement about suitability in an assessment, an assessment of risk where someone is low in mood: these are judgements with consequences. In care, the standard of good care provision in Article 7:453 of the Dutch Civil Code and the duty of confidentiality in Article 7:457 DCC also apply. See also the liability insurance for care and welfare.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
Points to note in your practice
Four points that go wrong for a self-employed psychologist more often than the substantive work.
The boundary between care and coaching
A coaching programme that gradually becomes treatment changes your legal position: a treatment relationship arises with a duty to keep records and a duty of confidentiality, and if a complaint follows, the test is the professional standard. Record in writing at the start what you provide and revise that if the question changes. Check that both forms are on your policy.
Reporting to a client organisation
Whoever pays is not automatically the one entitled to read the report. In a work-related programme it remains the client who gives consent for disclosure. Agree in advance what feedback the employer receives, let the client see the document and never issue a medical opinion for which a company doctor is required.
Working online and security
Video calls and messaging have become normal, but they do call for clear arrangements. Record what you do in a crisis outside office hours, who covers during holidays and which channels you do and do not use. Do not use consumer apps for information from a file. A breach is not a professional error but a data breach and belongs on a cyber insurance.
Costs that stay at your expense
Outside the cover are: refunding your fee where a client is dissatisfied, fines and disciplinary sanctions, and liability arising from a warranty or an indemnity. Conduct amounting to intent or wilful recklessness is excluded from cover by Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Inappropriate conduct in the treatment relationship is also expressly excluded. That is not a mistake but intent.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover from the practice: the basis for the rate
- Balance between care, coaching and advice: each part has its own risk profile
- Your registrations: healthcare psychologist registration or only membership of an association
- Target group: youth work and work-related programmes weigh differently
- Working as a subcontractor: the provider's contractual requirements determine what cover you need
- Run-off period chosen: complaints about a programme rarely come immediately
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| An assessment report calls a candidate unsuitable when the conclusion rests on a single instrument | No | Yes |
| An employer halts a return-to-work programme after your advice about capacity for work turns out to be wrong | No | Yes |
| A client says you assessed the risk of relapse incorrectly and that he lost his job as a result | No | Yes |
| A client trips over the threshold of your practice room at home | Yes | No |
| Your laptop with client data is stolen from your car | No | No |
| A client refuses to pay the invoice because he finds your report unusable | No | No |
Only claims arising from the advice itself belong on the right; loss of data or unpaid invoices are a different matter.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I work for a mental health institution as a self-employed professional. Am I covered there?
Rarely automatically. Institutions' policies cover the institution and its staff. A self-employed professional with a contract for services usually falls outside them and also has an obligation in the contract to be insured. Ask for written confirmation if you believe you are an insured person, and otherwise keep your own policy in force.
Am I subject to disciplinary law if I have no Wet BIG registration?
Not to the statutory disciplinary law under the Wet BIG, but to your association's disciplinary rules if you are a member of a professional association, and to the Wkkgz if you provide care. That act requires you to have a complaints procedure and to be affiliated to a recognised disputes body, which can award compensation. Report such proceedings to your insurer.
A client demands his money back because he sees no result. Is that insured?
Refunding your own fee falls outside the cover. That is a dispute about your performance and not loss to a third party. Your obligation is also one to use best efforts, unless you promised a result yourself in a quotation or on your website. Do not make that promise, because in doing so you take on liability that is not insured.
Does my cover continue if I close my practice?
Only with a run-off period. Most policies are claims-made: the moment of notification determines the cover, not the moment of treatment. Because complaints in this profession often only arise after a programme has ended, generous run-off cover is sensible. Arrange it before the end date; buying it afterwards is generally not possible.
Read more
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