Wet BIG disciplinary law · long treatment relationships · standing in
Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) for a self-employed psychotherapist
Psychotherapy is a protected profession with statutory disciplinary law and with treatment relationships that last for years. That makes your risk different in nature: not one procedure, but a course of treatment judged after the event.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zelfstandig psychotherapeut.
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
As a psychotherapist you are registered under Article 3 of the Wet BIG and you are subject to the statutory disciplinary law in Article 47. A disciplinary tribunal imposes sanctions but no compensation. In principle, therefore, the insurance does not come into play there. The disciplinary decision still matters, though, because a civil court uses it as an indication. So ask expressly whether your policy pays the cost of defending disciplinary proceedings, and otherwise look at business legal expenses insurance.
The civil claim in this profession turns on the course of a treatment. A client who says that trauma treatment was started too quickly and led to decompensation, a family who ask after a suicide why the case was not escalated, a client who says that dependence arose in the treatment relationship and that years of care were billed with no end in sight. The test there is Article 7:453 of the Dutch Civil Code: good care provision in line with the professional standard. Your indication, treatment plan, evaluation points and the reasons for continuing together form the defence.
As a sole practitioner you also have an organisational risk. Without colleagues around you, you have to arrange yourself who stands in during illness or holidays, where a client can turn outside office hours and what arrangements apply in a crisis. Some insurers make a written locum arrangement a condition. The general explanation of the product is on the hub page; if you work in a group practice, look at the psychotherapy practice.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
Risks of this profession
Four points that weigh the most heavily for a self-employed psychotherapist.
Support the indication and the evaluation
In a long course of treatment the question is not whether you did good work, but whether you evaluated at fixed points and gave reasons why continuing was necessary. Record the aim, the result and the decision for each evaluation. If that line is missing, it cannot be shown afterwards that the treatment was purposeful, and that affects both a disciplinary complaint and a civil claim.
Crossing boundaries is not a mistake but intent
A sexual or otherwise inappropriate relationship with a client is on every policy excluded, even where no criminal conviction follows; Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code excludes loss caused by intent. The same applies to entering into financial or business ties with a client. Keep the treatment relationship clean and put any dual roles that arise to a supervisor.
Claims by third parties
It is not only the client who can bring a claim against you. A partner or family member who says they suffer loss through your conduct comes through Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, and you have no treatment agreement with them. Be careful with statements about third parties in the file or in a letter. Those are regularly quoted word for word in proceedings about parental authority or divorce.
What you pay yourself
The following, among others, are outside the cover: a health insurer reclaiming care that has been invoiced, fines and disciplinary sanctions, refunding your fee, liability you accept by contract, and claims arising from a circumstance you already knew about when you took out the policy. Report such circumstances when you apply; Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code determine what non-disclosure costs.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover from treatments: the basis for setting the premium
- Forms of treatment: trauma treatment and personality disorders weigh more heavily
- Target group: youth, forensic and crisis-prone groups differ greatly
- Cover during your absence: often a condition where you work alone
- Sum insured per claim: usually prescribed in care contracts
- Length of the run-off period: courses of treatment are sometimes challenged years after they ended
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A client's condition worsens because you did not have the agreed discussion with the GP about his medication | No | Yes |
| A crisis arrangement is not handed over during your holiday and the locum knows nothing about it | No | Yes |
| A client lodges a disciplinary complaint and you incur legal costs for the defence | No | Provided that |
| A client falls on the garden path to your practice at home | Yes | No |
| A client kicks in the door of your consulting room on the way out | No | No |
| Referrers stop sending clients after publicity about a complaint | No | No |
Defence costs and damage to reputation follow their own route. Only a claim for compensation opens up the professional cover.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
I have received a disciplinary complaint. Can I report it to my insurer?
Always report it, even though the disciplinary tribunal cannot award compensation. The same facts regularly lead to a civil claim later, and then prompt notification of the circumstance determines the cover. Check the policy conditions to see whether defence costs in disciplinary cases are included. That differs from insurer to insurer.
Surviving relatives are holding me liable after a suicide. What is the test?
Whether your conduct fitted the professional standard: did you assess the risk, make safety arrangements, consult the GP or the crisis service and record that. An unfortunate outcome is not in itself a mistake. Report the claim at once; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to do so as soon as you are reasonably aware of it.
How long do I have to keep run-off cover?
Longer than in most other healthcare professions. Clients often only look back on a course of treatment after it has ended, and sometimes after further treatment elsewhere. Because a claims-made policy follows the moment of notification, cover continuing for several years after termination is no unnecessary luxury. Arrange it when you cancel, not afterwards.
I treat online. Does that change my cover?
Report it, certainly if you treat clients outside the Netherlands: the area of cover and the applicable law may then differ. For the treatment itself the same standards apply as in the consulting room. For the security of your video calling and records environment, look at a cyber insurance.
Read more
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