Drivers · medical fitness to drive · replacement staff
Sickness absence insurance (verzuimverzekering) for transport firms
In road transport, availability for work hangs on a valid medical examination: if a driver loses their fitness to drive, your obligation to continue paying wages runs for two years while suitable work within the business is barely available.
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
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Sickness absence insurance (verzuimverzekering) covers the wages you must continue to pay a sick employee under Article 7:629 of the Dutch Civil Code, for up to 104 weeks. For a transport business the loss rarely lies in short cases of flu in the office or the warehouse, but in the driver's case that runs for months: back complaints after years of loading and unloading, cardiovascular problems, sleep apnoea or a knee that can no longer take the gear changing. Those are precisely the conditions that also affect the medical examination for a category C, CE or D licence.
Pay attention to a distinction that regularly goes wrong in this sector: not every driver who may not drive is ill. If the licence is seized after alcohol or drug use, if the code 95 further training expires, or if the court imposes a driving ban, there is no illness within the meaning of Article 7:629 of the Dutch Civil Code. No obligation to continue paying wages arises and therefore no entitlement to a payment under the policy. If the CBR withdraws fitness to drive on medical grounds and the driver is thereby unfit for their own work, the position is different.
Only staff on your own wage bill are insured. Charter hauliers, hired-in self-employed drivers and agency workers fall outside the cover. Their absence is the problem of their own client or employer. We set out your wage bill, the ratio of driving to non-driving staff and your absence history side by side and consider whether a conventional form is sufficient or whether guidance should be included in the cover.
What does sickness absence insurance cover for transport businesses?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Two years
Continued payment of wages
What you are legally required to continue paying.
First year one hundred per cent
Second year seventy per cent
A collective labour agreement may require more
The waiting period
Own retention
How many days you bear yourself.
Shorter is more expensive
Longer brings the premium down
Choose according to what you can bear
Optional
Support and case handling
Guidance with reintegration.
Case management
Gatekeeper Act monitoring
Risk of a wage sanction
What is covered
Situation
Conventional
Full-service option
Continued payment of wages during sickness
Yes
Yes
Guidance with reintegration
No
Yes
Risk of a wage sanction borne by the insurer
No
Yes
Occupational health services included
No
Sometimes
Cost of replacing a member of staff who is off sick
No
No
Sickness absence that already existed at inception
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.
Losing fitness to drive is not the same as being ill
The policy follows the obligation to continue paying wages. That arises in the event of illness, not when an authorisation lapses. A licence seized after alcohol use, an expired code 95 or an expired driver qualification does not give rise to a payment, even though the driver cannot work. Where the CBR withdraws fitness on medical grounds, the insurer assesses whether the condition makes the employee unfit for the agreed work. Record that assessment before you continue paying wages.
Redeployment within a fleet is scarce
A transport business has few roles outside the cab. Planning, workshop and dispatch are usually full, and adapted work in the warehouse runs into the same lifting strain. As a result the second track comes into play sooner here than in other sectors. Start that process in good time: the Wet verbetering poortwachter (the Dutch Gatekeeper Improvement Act) assesses afterwards whether you have done enough, and an extended obligation to pay wages falls outside every absence policy.
Recovering wages paid after a collision
If a driver is off work because of an accident for which someone else is liable, you can recover the net wages you have paid from that other party under Article 6:107a of the Dutch Civil Code. The motor insurer of the party at fault can be addressed directly for this under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). If your absence insurer has already paid out, it is subrogated to your rights under Article 7:962 of the Dutch Civil Code. So always report such cases as recoverable.
What the policy does not pay
Outside the cover are pregnancy and maternity leave (that runs through the WAZO), absence already running on the start date, and the wages of charter hauliers, agency workers and self-employed drivers. The costs of a hired replacement, traffic fines and damage to the tractor unit, trailer or load do not belong here either. If your driver holds you liable for injury, Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code and sometimes Article 7:611 of the Dutch Civil Codecomes into play; that is employer's liability, a separate policy.
What does your premium depend on?
Insured payroll. The basis for calculation; declare driving and non-driving staff separately if the insurer asks for that.
Type of transport. Urban distribution with a lot of loading and unloading has a different absence pattern from international long-distance transport.
Deferment period in working days. How many waiting days per case of illness you bear yourself; short-term absence among drivers is easy to bear yourself.
Percentage of cover and the second year of illness. Whether you insure 70 or 100 per cent and whether the collective agreement top-up in the second year is included.
Share of long-running cases. Your absence history weighs more heavily on the duration of cases than on the number of sickness reports.
Absence management and monitoring of medical examinations. An occupational health service and a calendar that tracks medical examinations and further training reduce the chance of long-term absence.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your 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.
Does the insurance pay out if the CBR withdraws fitness to drive?
Only if the underlying condition makes the driver unfit for their own work. There is then illness and therefore continued payment of wages. If the licence has been seized after alcohol or drug use, or if the code 95 further training expires, that illness is absent and the policy does not pay. Have the company doctor record that distinction before you continue paying salary.
What if a driver falls ill abroad?
The sickness report must still reach the insurer within the period set out in the conditions; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to report in good time. Make sure your absence protocol sets out how a driver reports in while on the road and how a foreign doctor records the complaint. The costs of repatriation, hotels or bringing the vehicle combination back do not fall under this policy.
Are charter hauliers and self-employed drivers covered?
No. The cover follows your wage bill and your obligation to continue paying wages. Anyone driving through a charter arrangement, an employment agency or their own business is not on that wage bill. If such a person is off work, their own employer or they themselves bear that risk. So do not include hired-in staff in your declaration. It raises your premium without providing cover.
Can I recover the wages I have paid from the party who caused an accident?
Yes. Article 6:107a of the Dutch Civil Code gives you as an employer your own right of action against the liable party for the net wages you have paid, and under WAM Article 2 you can address their insurer directly. If your absence insurer has already paid out, it takes over the recovery under Article 7:962 DCC. So report the accident with the registration number and the accident statement form.
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.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
