Injury and property damage
- Injury to third parties at the work location
- Damage to installations and buildings
- Consequential loss from that damage
- The cost of defending the claim
AVB · employers' liability · advice
Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) for safety experts
As a safety expert you work at clients' premises and assess risks that could lead to injury. Public and employers' liability insurance covers the damage you cause physically; a mistake in your advice usually falls outside it.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor veiligheidskundigen.
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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
Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) covers liability for injury to people and damage to property that your business causes to others. The legal basis is usually the tort provision of Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, and for the mistakes of your employees Article 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Code. For a safety expert this might be a measuring instrument that falls off scaffolding and damages a car, a visitor who trips over your equipment, or damage to an installation during an inspection.
The second part is the employers' liability. Under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code you have a duty of care for the safety of your own staff; if an employee is injured at work, you are liable unless you show that you met that duty of care. That is a heavy burden of proof, even for a business that works with safety professionally. In that situation the AVB pays for the injury, the loss of earning capacity and the cost of the defence.
What the AVB not covers is pure financial loss from a professional mistake: an RI&E that misses a risk, advice that is poorly substantiated or a report on which a client bases an investment. For that you need professional indemnity insurance . Because advice is the heart of this profession, the combination of both policies is the rule rather than the exception for safety experts.
What does the AVB cover for a safety expert?
The cover falls into damage to third parties, injury to your own staff and a number of additional sections that are not automatically included.
Employers' liability
Claims by your own employees, students on placement and hired-in workers after an accident.
- Duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code
- Injury during inspections and measurements
- Occupational illness, provided it is reported in time
- Also for agency workers and self-employed professionals
Care, custody and control and activities
Sections you have to apply for separately and that are almost always subject to a limit.
- Third-party property in your care, custody and control
- Damage after handover of your work
- Measuring equipment supplied
- Advisory work: often expressly excluded
What is covered
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| Injury to an employee of the client | Yes | Yes |
| Injury to your own staff at work | Yes | Yes |
| Damage to equipment you have in your care temporarily | No | Provided that |
| Financial loss caused by incorrect safety advice | No | No |
| A fine from the Netherlands Labour Authority | No | No |
| A collision in the company car on the way to a location | No | No |
Which sections are included, with which limits, excesses and exclusions, is set out in the policy conditions and on the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) you receive before taking out the policy.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that determine whether your policy actually pays when you claim.
Advice is the weak point of an AVB
A safety expert earns a living by assessing, advising and reporting. The AVB is not made for that: it covers injury and property damage, not the pure financial loss that arises if advice turns out to have been wrong. In fact, many AVB policies expressly exclude liability arising from advice , even where it ultimately leads to injury. Read that clause before you take out the policy and close the gap with professional indemnity insurance.
Employers' liability does not stop at your own staff
Article Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code extends the duty of care to everyone who works on your instructions: agency workers, students on placement and hired-in self-employed professionals. Report those groups on your application, because the premium and the cover are set according to the number of people working. Also watch road use: an employee's loss in an accident on the way is usually not under the AVB, but under separate employers' liability cover for motor vehicles.
What is never covered
The following, among others, are outside the cover: fines and penalty payments from the Netherlands Labour Authority or another regulator, damage caused with a motor vehicle for which the insurance requirement under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) applies, and the repair or replacement of your own defective work or goods supplied — the consequential loss from it may well be covered. Loss caused by intent or wilful recklessness is excluded under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code, as well as asbestos, environmental pollution and liability you have taken on by contract without having it in law.
Report an incident, even without a claim
The duty to give notice under Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code starts as soon as you know of an event that could lead to a loss, not only when a notice of liability arrives. With an accident at work that means: reporting it to the labour inspectorate and to your insurer, and recording straight away which instructions, inspections and personal protective equipment were in place. Later, that file is the only counterweight to the reversed burden of proof under Article 7:658 DCC.
Nederlandse Arbeidsinspectie (the Dutch labour inspectorate)
What does your premium depend on?
- Turnover — the usual basis for calculation
- Number of employees — including hired-in workers and interns
- Type of locations — office, building site or industry
- Advisory work or not — determines whether a BAV is needed
- Sum insured per claim — and the maximum per year
- Claims history — earlier claims and accidents
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
How we arrange it
- You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, risk and wishes.
- We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
- You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
- We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
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Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
Do I need professional indemnity insurance as well as the AVB?
Almost always. Your core product is a judgement on paper: a risk assessment, a measurement report, advice on machine safety. If something goes wrong there without anything being broken or anyone being injured, the loss is purely financial and the AVB does not pay. Professional indemnity insurance covers exactly that gap.
Are the self-employed professionals I hire in covered?
For injury to themselves, usually yes: Article 7:658 subsection 4 of the Dutch Civil Code counts them among the people for whom you have a duty of care, and the AVB follows that liability in law. For damage they cause to third parties it depends on the policy. State on your application how many you hire in and have it recorded that they count as co-insured.
Does the AVB cover damage to the installation I am inspecting?
Only if the care, custody and control section is included. Property you have in your care in order to work on it, inspect it or transport it does not count as damage to a third party in the normal sense and is excluded as standard. Care, custody and control cover is also always limited to an amount lower than the ordinary sum insured.
Does the insurer pay a fine from the labour inspectorate?
No. Under Dutch law, administrative fines and penalty payments are generally uninsurable and do not belong on a liability policy. What is covered is the victim's civil claim and the cost of the legal defence. An objection against the fine itself falls under business legal expenses insurance (rechtsbijstandverzekering), not under the AVB.
Does the policy also apply to work abroad?
That depends on the territorial scope. Many policies cover Europe as standard and the rest of the world only after notification, with the exception of the United States and Canada. If you work on installations outside the Netherlands, state that on your application; not disclosing it falls under the duty of disclosure in Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code and can cost you the payment.
Read more
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What does your cover cost?
Request a quotation without obligation; we set the advice and care, custody and control clauses of each insurer side by side.
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About our service
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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This page was written and checked by an adviser at Finass Verzekert. Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.