Liability
- Damage to third parties
- Employers' liability
- Care, custody and control as an extension
Hot work · checks afterwards · certificates
Welders on the payroll: employers' liability and hired-in labour
As soon as you have welders on your payroll or hire them in, the focus of the policy shifts from damage to the work to injury to the people doing the work.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Lassers in dienst: werkgeversaansprakelijkheid en inleen.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Public and employers' liability insurance for a welding business has two sections that work independently of each other. The first is general liability: injury and property damage to third parties, for which under Article 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Code you are also liable if an employee makes the mistake. The second is employers' liability, and in this trade that section makes the difference.
Welding is a trade with exposure: welding fumes, radiation, heat, confined spaces and working at height. Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code places the duty of care with you and reverses the burden of proof: if an employee is injured, you have to show that you met your duty of care. That is a fundamentally different position from damage to a third party.
Include hired-in workers expressly. Agency workers and hired-in self-employed professionals come Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code within your duty of care. If you work without staff, see the page for self-employed welders.
What does liability cover for welders?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Assets and continuity
Business contents, goods and lost turnover during downtime.
- Business contents at replacement value as new
- Goods at cost price
- Business interruption or additional costs
Staff
Sickness absence, accidents and the traffic risk.
- Continued pay for 104 weeks
- Group personal accident
- WEGAS for traffic risks
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV | Cyber |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injury to a visitor or customer | Yes | No | No |
| Damage to a client's property | Sometimes | No | No |
| Financial loss caused by an advisory or calculation error | No | Yes | No |
| Downtime after a ransomware attack | No | No | Yes |
| Data breach involving personal data | No | Sometimes | Yes |
| Damage to property in your care | No | 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.
Employers' liability is a separate section with its own limit
Eye injuries from welding radiation, burns, a fall from scaffolding or an accident in a confined space fall under the employers' liability section, not under the general cover. That section has its own sum insured per event and per year. Check that this sum matches the injury risk of your work, because permanent injury involves loss of earning capacity over many years.
Exposure claims come years later
Complaints caused by welding fumes or other exposure sometimes only come to light long after the employment has ended. What then counts is how your policy dates the event: by the moment of exposure or by the moment of the claim. If you move to another insurer, arrange run-off cover with the old one and run-in cover with the new one. Without that join there is a gap that you only notice years later.
State hired-in and hired-out staff expressly
Agency workers, students on placement, holiday staff and hired-in self-employed professionals come within your duty of care through Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code. For the mistakes of non-subordinate assistants you can also be held liable under Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code . Those groups are only covered if they are stated on the policy and if their deployment is included in the declared basis. Report the wage bill including hired-in staff at the annual adjustment.
What the policy does not cover
Administrative fines and penalty payments, for instance from the labour inspectorate after an accident, are uninsurable. Damage to your own equipment and buildings falls under a property policy, not here. Accidents involving motor vehicles are excluded; separate employers' cover for road use is needed for those. Intent and wilful recklessness fall outside the cover on the basis of Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
- Wage bill including hired-in staff — The main basis for the employers' liability section.
- Number of employees and their roles — Hands-on welding weighs more heavily than office or preparatory roles.
- Nature of the work — Work at height, in confined spaces or in a hazardous environment increases the injury risk.
- Sum insured per section — The limit for employers' liability is separate from the one for general liability.
- Prevention and certification — An up-to-date RI&E, VCA status, toolbox talks and exposure records all count in the underwriting.
- Claims history and excess — Earlier injury claims feed through into the rate; a higher excess brings the premium down.
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.
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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.
Are agency workers and hired-in self-employed professionals covered?
Only if they are stated on the policy. They do come within your duty of care as an employer, even without a contract of employment, so the risk is there in any case. When taking out the policy and at the annual adjustment, state how many people are hired in and in which roles. An undeclared group of hired-in workers is one of the most common gaps in this policy.
What if a former employee reports a complaint years later?
The cover then depends on how your policy dates the event: by the moment of exposure or by the moment of the claim. If you have moved insurer since then, you need run-off cover with the old insurer or run-in cover with the new one. Arrange that at the time of the switch; that join cannot be made afterwards.
Does the policy cover fines from the labour inspectorate?
No. Administrative fines and penalty payments are by their nature uninsurable, even when they follow an accident that is covered. What the insurer does do is handle the employee's claim and conduct the defence. For assistance in enforcement proceedings or a criminal case you need legal expenses insurance (rechtsbijstandverzekering).
Are employees covered on the road?
Not on the public and employers' liability insurance; that excludes damage caused with or by motor vehicles. If a welder is injured on the way to a job, you as the employer may well be liable. For that there is separate employers' cover for road use, which also applies to commuting in a company van and to the use of an employee's own car.
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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.