Private assets · care, custody and control · model agreement
Compare liability insurance for the self-employed
As a self-employed person with a sole trader business there is no legal entity to absorb it. A claim comes straight to you, and recovery runs against your private assets.
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 your own premium with the calculator.
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
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
With a sole trader business or a general partnership there is no separation between business and private. A claim reaches your savings, your car and, in the worst case, the equity in your home. That makes the level of the sum insured a different consideration from that in a private limited company.
The first question is which policy fits your work. If you work physically and on site, then the AVB is the basis: that covers damage to property and to people. If you work in an advisory or design role, then the BAV is the basis: that covers pure financial loss, financial harm without anything being broken.
In engineering, IT, construction management and care you often need both, because you work with your hands as well as with your judgement.
What does liability insurance for the self-employed cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
For physical work
AVB
Damage to property and injury to people that you cause to others.
Damage at the customer's home
Injury to a bystander
Damage caused with your tools
For advisory work
BAV
Pure financial loss through an error, omission or incorrect advice.
A calculation error or design error
A missed deadline
Wrong advice
The pitfall
Care, custody and control
Damage to other people's property that you have in your care: excluded as standard.
The building you are working on
Borrowed or hired tools
Equipment being worked on
What is covered
Situation
AVB
BAV
You damage a client's floor
Yes
No
Injury to a bystander at the workplace
Yes
No
Your calculation error costs the client money
No
Yes
You miss a deadline, with financial harm
No
Yes
Damage to the building or the machine you are working on
No
No
Putting right your own defective work
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Your client often sets the sum insured
Almost every model agreement and set of purchasing conditions contains an obligation to insure with a minimum sum insured, usually € 1.250.000 or € 2.500.000 per claim. Ask for that requirement before you sign; you can increase the cover afterwards, but by then you will have worked without the cover you promised under the contract.
The care, custody and control exclusion goes to the heart of the matter for the self-employed
Damage to property you have in your care is excluded as standard: the building you are converting, the machine you are repairing, the laptop in your keeping. For a carpenter, engineer or installer that is not an exception at the margin but the heart of the work. Care, custody and control cover is a separate module with a limit of its own.
You are not an employee, and that works both ways
In September 2021 the Supreme Court rejected the argument of a self-employed professional who, after a single-vehicle road accident in a company car belonging to his client, relied on the obligation to insure that employers have towards employees. That obligation applies to employees, not to self-employed people. You therefore have to arrange cover for your own injury and loss of income yourself.
The policy covers the activities set out on it. If you take on project management, inspections or a new technique as well, have that added. When a claim is made, the first test is whether the work fell within the description; if it falls outside it, you never get to the rest of the discussion.
What does your premium depend on?
Profession and risk class — the most decisive factor
Annual turnover — the basis of calculation
Sum insured per claim — often the requirement in your contract
Excess chosen
Care, custody and control cover and the limit
Working area — the Netherlands, the EU or worldwide
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your activities, turnover 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.
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.
If you work physically and on site, the AVB is the basis. If you advise, design or calculate, the BAV is. In engineering, IT, construction management and care both are needed, because damage to property as well as financial loss can arise there.
Am I personally liable?
With a sole trader business or a general partnership you are. There is no separation between business and private assets, so recovery runs against your own possessions. That makes the level of the sum insured a materially different consideration from that in a private limited company.
What amount do I have to insure?
Your client usually decides that: model agreements and purchasing conditions almost always state a minimum sum insured, generally €1.250.000 or €2.500.000 per claim.
What is damage to property in your care, custody and control?
Damage to other people's property that you have in your care: the building you are working on, hired tools, equipment being worked on. Excluded as standard, and insurable with a separate module up to a limit of its own.
Am I insured if I am injured myself?
Not on this policy. A liability insurance covers other people's losses. For your own injury and loss of income you need disability insurance (AOV) or personal accident cover. And unlike employees, you cannot rely on a client's obligation to insure; the Supreme Court rejected that in 2021.
Is putting right my own work covered?
No. Doing your own work again is a business risk. The consequential loss that this causes the customer is covered.
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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