Teaching on site · pupils · practical rooms
Liability insurance for a self-employed teacher
As a self-employed teacher you work in someone else's building and under someone else's rules. The key question is who is liable if a pupil is injured while you are in front of the class.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor een zelfstandig docent.
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
The AVB covers injury and property damage that you cause to others. In education that means: a pupil burning himself in a practical class under your supervision, an accident during a PE lesson or on a school trip you supervise, an interactive whiteboard or projector you drop, a laptop belonging to the institution with coffee spilt over it. Liability runs through Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and is assessed on what you as a teacher should reasonably have foreseen and instructed.
What clients often do not say is that the school has its own liability towards pupils and parents, but that does not mean you stay out of range. Contracts for hire regularly state that you are liable for damage you cause, with an indemnity in favour of the institution. Combine that with the requirement of a valid policy schedule and a certificate of good conduct, and the AVB becomes a condition of being able to start work.
Three things fall outside it. Equipment and materials belonging to the institution that you have in your in your care, such as a laptop or measuring equipment on loan, run into the care, custody and control exclusion. Complaints about an incorrect assessment, a missed safeguarding signal or an unsound course programme concern money and not injury; that is pure financial loss and belongs with the professional indemnity insurance for self-employed professionals. Administrative fines and the consequences of a data breach involving pupil records are not AVB losses either. For those, look at cyber insurance. The general explanation is on the hub page on the AVB.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare public and employers' liability insurance (AVB).
What to look out for
Four situations in which cover is genuinely at issue for a self-employed teacher.
Practicals, PE lessons and school trips
Lessons in which pupils move about, use tools or work with chemicals are the main source of injury risk. Give instructions beforehand, keep to a set number of pupils per supervisor and note down what you said. Knowingly taking an irresponsible risk is not paid for: Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code excludes damage caused by the insured with intent or wilful recklessness.
The client's equipment and rooms
If you are lent a laptop, an instrument or a practical set-up, you have it in your care and the care, custody and control exclusion applies. If you damage those items, you bear the cost yourself, unless care, custody and control cover is included or the institution waives recovery in the contract. Do ask for that; it appears in contracts for hire more often than people think.
Your lesson is not a product, but your advice is
As long as it concerns injury or something broken, you look to the AVB. As soon as it concerns a judgment - a mark, a secondary school recommendation, a note on a file, a curriculum that turns out not to meet requirements - it is financial loss and you need professional indemnity insurance. Teachers who also train or advise need both covers.
If you engage someone yourself
If you arrange a stand-in, or bring an assistant to a workshop, that person works under your direction. The duty of care under Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code can then apply to you as well, without there being a contract of employment. Report this when you apply; otherwise the Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code give the insurer room to adjust the payment.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover: the usual basis for self-employed people
- Level of education and age of the group: younger pupils require more supervision
- Share of practical teaching: working with tools or substances weighs more heavily than theory
- Teaching at companies: in-company work comes with different client requirements
- Care, custody and control cover: needed when equipment belonging to the institution is on loan to you
- Sum insured and excess: per claim and per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| A pupil falls off a stool you brought into the room yourself and breaks an arm | Yes | No |
| You leave a hob on in the practical room and fire damages the school building | Yes | No |
| A course member sprains an ankle during an exercise you set at an in-company training session | Yes | No |
| You lose the bag of completed tests and the whole year group has to sit the exam again | No | Yes |
| Parents demand the course fee back because your exam preparation did not match the syllabus | No | Yes |
| Your own laptop with teaching material disappears from a room that was left unlocked | No | No |
If the complaint concerns what you did, the AVB responds. If it concerns what you judged or advised, professional indemnity does.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A pupil was injured during my lesson. Who pays?
That depends on whether you made a mistake in supervision or instruction. If you did, the loss is a wrongful act within the meaning of Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and falls under your AVB. The institution also has a responsibility of its own, and both insurers discuss how to divide it. Report the incident to your insurer straight away.
I damaged the school's interactive whiteboard.
Damage to the client's property is covered in principle, but watch the circumstances. If the device had been given to you to use or look after, the care, custody and control exclusion can apply and the policy does not pay. Check in advance, therefore, whether your policy has care, custody and control cover, certainly if you work with expensive equipment.
A parent complains about an incorrect assessment.
A complaint of that kind is not about injury or damaged property but about the consequences of your judgement, a wrong secondary school recommendation for instance. That is pure financial loss and is excluded under the AVB. Professional indemnity insurance is intended for it, and covers the cost of defence as well. Report a complaint in good time; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires notification as soon as you know of a possible claim.
I also teach at companies. Does that change my cover?
The insured business activity on your policy determines what is covered. If it says only that you are a teacher in mainstream education, in-company training or advisory work may fall outside the description. State all your activities when you apply and have the business activity amended if your practice shifts. It costs nothing and prevents argument later.
Read more
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