What is included in third-party liability insurance?
WA stands for wettelijke aansprakelijkheid, legal liability: damage you cause to someone else. The term is used for two different policies, and that difference determines who is covered.
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In brief
Third-party liability insurance is a collective term. For private individuals it means personal liability insurance, which covers damage you cause to others in your private life. For a vehicle it means the compulsory third-party liability cover of car insurance, imposed by Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). Those two policies exclude each other: damage caused with a motor vehicle is never covered by private third-party liability cover.
The legal basis is Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code: anyone who acts wrongfully and thereby causes damage has to pay for it. The law also has cases in which you are liable without any fault of your own. For children up to the age of fourteen Article 6:169 of the Dutch Civil Code applies, for animals Article 6:179 DCC and for buildings Article 6:174 DCC. It is precisely those strict liabilities that make the policy valuable: you can be liable while having done nothing wrong.
What is insured is not only the compensation itself, but also the defence. The insurer assesses whether you really are liable, conducts the defence against an unjustified claim on your behalf and pays the costs of doing so, usually on top of the sum insured. That element is underestimated: with personal injury the discussion about what happened and about consequential loss often takes years. What third-party motor insurance does not do is pay for damage to your own car. For that there is third-party, fire and theft and comprehensive cover.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare personal liability insurance (AVP).
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What is and is not included
Four elements that determine whether a claim actually lands on the third-party liability policy.
The group of insured persons
Private third-party liability cover is a family policy: you, your partner, children living at home and usually guests, domestic staff and pets as well are covered. Children studying away from home often remain covered as long as they are unmarried and in full-time education. Check this point in blended families and where a child starts work; that is where most disputes arise.
Motor vehicles are excluded
Damage caused with a car, motorcycle, scooter or moped falls under the WAM insurance for that vehicle and is excluded on the private policy. That does not apply to an ordinary bicycle and usually not to an electric bicycle up to 25 kilometres per hour. Those are covered by the private policy. A speed pedelec is a moped and needs its own third-party liability insurance.
Care, custody and control: borrowed and hired items
Damage to property you had in your care, hired, borrowed or worked on is usually excluded. The reasoning is that you had those items under your own control. Many policies have a limited contribution for items borrowed from friends or family or for damage to a rented holiday home. Where that limit lies differs considerably from insurer to insurer and is one of the most decisive points when comparing.
Intent, profession and pure financial loss
Three categories always fall outside it. Damage caused intentionally is excluded under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code, including group behaviour you took part in. Professional and business activities are excluded; for those there is public and employers' liability insurance. And purely financial disadvantage without injury or damaged property, pure financial loss, is not covered on a third-party liability policy.
What does your premium depend on?
- Household composition: single or family determines the group of insured persons
- Sum insured per event: particularly important with personal injury
- Excess: many policies have no excess or a low one
- Area of cover: usually worldwide, sometimes limited for long stays
- Care, custody and control cover included: a wider care, custody and control arrangement raises the premium
- Claims history: previous liability claims count
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
Which third-party liability policy does the claim land on?
| Situation | Personal third-party liability | Motor third-party liability |
|---|---|---|
| Your ten-year-old son kicks a ball through the neighbours' window | Yes | No |
| While parking you knock the mirror off a parked car | No | Yes |
| Your dog bites a passer-by in the park | Yes | No |
| You drop the drill you borrowed from your neighbour | Provided that | No |
| A pedestrian is injured in a collision with your speed pedelec | No | Yes |
| The costs of defending an injury claim you consider unjustified | Yes | Yes |
The same abbreviation, two separate policies: the question is not what happened, but whether a motor vehicle was involved.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Is third-party liability insurance compulsory?
For a motor vehicle, yes: Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act requires the owner to have third-party liability insurance, even if the vehicle is parked on the public road. Personal liability insurance (AVP) is not required by law, but a landlord or a sports club can make it a condition. Without that policy you bear an injury claim entirely yourself.
My child causes damage. Am I always liable?
For children under fourteen, Article 6:169 of the Dutch Civil Code applies: the parent is liable for the child's conduct, even without fault of their own. Between fourteen and sixteen the parent can in some circumstances escape liability by showing that they are not to blame. From sixteen the child is in principle liable themselves, but is usually still covered on the family policy.
Does third-party motor insurance cover damage to my own car?
No. Third-party liability cover pays only for the damage you cause to others with your vehicle: their car, their property and their injuries. Your own vehicle is only covered with third-party, fire and theft or comprehensive cover. The driver is sometimes protected through separate occupants' indemnity cover or personal accident cover. Those modules are separate from the third-party liability cover.
What if I cause damage as a volunteer?
Voluntary work is usually not a professional or business activity and therefore often still falls under the private cover. Many local authorities and organisations also have their own volunteers' insurance. If you are paid for the work, or it involves regular activities of a business nature, the exclusion for professional activities can still apply. Ask the organisation in writing how it has arranged matters.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.