Hire contracts · the reporting code · SKJ registration
Professional indemnity – Youth care worker
As a self-employed youth care worker you stand alone in a family's home, but you sign a hire contract in which the client places its risk with you.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Beroepsaansprakelijkheid – Jeugdzorgwerker.
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.
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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
Local authorities, certified institutions and care providers hire you under a standard agreement. It almost always contains two things: a compulsory professional indemnity insurance with a minimum sum insured, and an indemnity clause in which you hold the client harmless. The second is the risk. Liability you take on by contract that would not exist without that clause is excluded on virtually every policy. So read the indemnity before you sign and, if necessary, put it to your adviser.
In substance, claims against a self-employed youth care worker arise from forming a judgement: a risk assessment that came out too light, a report in which assumptions appear as facts, a reporting code that was not followed, or a report that turned out afterwards to be insufficiently supported. Parents then claim not for injury but for money: legal costs, loss of income, the cost of a fresh assessment. That is pure financial loss and falls outside the AVB.
As a youth care professional you are registered with the SKJ (the Dutch youth care professionals register) and subject to your own disciplinary law. Insurers often make registration a condition of cover; do not let your registration lapse during an engagement. What professional indemnity insurance covers in general is set out on the hub page and with professional indemnity for self-employed professionals.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare professional indemnity insurance (BAV).
What you need to watch out for yourself
Four situations that are typical of working as a self-employed professional in youth care.
The indemnity in the hire contract
A client who has you sign for all loss connected with your work is also shifting risks that are not your fault. Liability accepted by contract is excluded as standard, so that burden stays with you personally. Negotiate a limitation to your own attributable failure and to the sum insured under your policy.
The reporting code and confidentiality
Sharing information with a school, the police or Veilig Thuis (the Dutch domestic abuse and child abuse advice centre) touches your duty of confidentiality. If you share too much or too soon, a claim from the parents follows. If you share too little, you are accused of negligence. Work demonstrably in line with the steps of the reporting code and note your reasoning at each step. That note is your most important defence when a claim arises.
Transporting clients in your own car
If you drive a young person to an appointment and injury arises in a collision, that does not run through your professional policy but through the compulsory motor insurance under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). Your own injury as the driver is not covered by it. Tell your motor insurer that you use the vehicle for business purposes to transport clients.
Three exclusions to be aware of
Outside the cover are: intent and wilful recklessness under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code, fines and disciplinary sanctions, and claims already known or to be expected when the policy came into force. Belongings of the family in your keeping also fall under the care, custody and control exclusion.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover from assignments: the basis for calculating the premium
- Type of clients: certified institution, local authority or care provider
- Voluntary or compulsory framework: work involving court-ordered measures attracts more claims
- Requested sum insured: clients often set a minimum for this
- Excess per claim: noticeably lowers or raises the premium
- Retroactive and run-off periods: decisive when switching insurers or closing your practice
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| You make a report that turns out to be insufficiently supported and the parents claim their legal costs | No | Yes |
| You do not report, the situation escalates and you are accused of ignoring the signs | No | Yes |
| You spill tea over the father's laptop during a conversation at the kitchen table | Yes | No |
| A young person damages the fittings of a community centre while you were supervising | Yes | No |
| The client withholds your final invoices because it is dissatisfied with your reports | No | No |
| You fall in a client's home yourself and cannot work for weeks | No | No |
Both policies pay someone who brings a claim against you. For your own loss and income a different cover is needed.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
The institution where I work says I am covered by their policy. Is that right?
Rarely. An institution insures its own staff. A hired-in self-employed professional is usually not an insured person on that policy. What is more, the same client asks you in the contract to hold your own cover. Ask for written confirmation if you are told that you are included, and otherwise keep your own policy in force for the whole engagement.
What if a disciplinary complaint is made against me at the SKJ?
The disciplinary tribunal does not award compensation, so in principle liability insurance pays nothing there. The cost of legal assistance is only covered if disciplinary law assistance is included as a separate section, or through legal expenses insurance (rechtsbijstandverzekering) for self-employed professionals. Take that out before a complaint arrives. Afterwards it can no longer be arranged.
A complaint comes in after the engagement has ended. Am I covered?
Only if the policy is still in force at that moment or if you have arranged run-off cover. The cover works on a claims-made basis: the moment of notification counts, not the moment you wrote the report. In youth care it often takes years before a claim follows. Report it as soon as you know of it; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to do so.
What if I am unable to work myself?
This policy only pays a third party who brings a claim against you, not you yourself. For your own income during illness or absence you need disability insurance. In outpatient work with an emotionally demanding caseload it is sensible to look at how psychological incapacity for work is defined in that policy.
Read more
Within Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekeringthe main page
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering huisarts zzp
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering maatschappelijk werker zzp
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering kraamverzorgende zzp
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering pedagoog zzp
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering jeugdzorg organisatie
- Beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering verpleegkundige zzp
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