Which liability insurance do you need?
AVB and BAV sound alike and cover completely different damage. Tick what applies to your work and see which cover belongs to it — and which doesn't.
What applies to your work?
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What fits your situation
Tick what applies to your work above. Nothing fits? Then you probably don't need these covers — but read your client contracts before writing it off.
An indication based on what you ticked. Not a premium quote and not insurance advice — what is actually covered is in the policy terms.
AVB or BAV: which liability insurance fits your work?
Business liability and professional liability sound almost the same but cover different damage. Ondernemersplein (KVK) puts the split like this: a bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering covers damage to people and property, a beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering covers the financial loss caused by a mistake in practising your profession. This page quotes no premiums — those depend on your profession, revenue and insured sum — but it does help you work out which cover applies to you at all.
Business liability (AVB)
The AVB covers material damage and personal injury: your client's laptop you knock off the desk, or someone breaking a wrist on a loose cable at your site. If you visit clients, handle their equipment, or have people come to you, this is the cover that matters. Pure financial loss — money the client misses out on because of an error in your work — falls outside it.
Professional liability (BAV)
The BAV covers exactly what the AVB does not: financial loss from a professional mistake. Wrong advice, a miscalculation, code that takes production down, a design that fails the requirements. Ondernemersplein flags this cover as relevant when your work consists of advising, calculating or making decisions for others. For consultants, developers, architects and interim professionals it is usually the more important of the two.
Not mandatory — except when it is
There is no general legal duty for a freelancer in the Netherlands to carry liability insurance. In practice your client decides: procurement terms at larger companies and public bodies often demand both an AVB and a BAV with a minimum insured sum, and some trade bodies and regulated professions require professional liability cover outright. So read the contract first, then insure.
What to check on the insured sum
Three things decide whether a policy does what you hope. The insured sum per claim and per year — your client's contract often names a minimum. The excess, which applies per event. And on a BAV, the prior-acts and run-off cover: claims about professional mistakes often arrive years after the job, so check whether work from before your policy is included (prior acts) and whether you stay covered after it ends (run-off).
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between AVB and BAV?
The AVB (business liability) covers damage to people and property; the BAV (professional liability) covers financial loss from a mistake in your work. If you mainly deliver advice or design, the BAV is usually the important one; if you work at client sites, the AVB is.
Is liability insurance mandatory for freelancers in the Netherlands?
Generally not by law. But clients often require it in their procurement terms, and for some regulated professions and trade bodies professional liability cover is genuinely compulsory.
Do I need employer's liability as a freelancer with no staff?
Only if people work for you — which includes hired freelancers, interns and agency workers. If you genuinely work alone, this cover doesn't apply.
What are prior-acts and run-off cover on a BAV?
Prior-acts cover mistakes in work done before your policy started; run-off covers claims that arrive after your policy ends. Because professional mistakes often surface years later, this is what decides whether you're covered in practice.
Sources and editorial note
Published by taskrik · last checked 28 July 2026. Every factual claim on this page rests on the sources below.
- Ondernemersplein (KVK): bedrijfsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Ondernemersplein (KVK): beroepsaansprakelijkheidsverzekering
- Ondernemersplein (KVK): soorten bedrijfsverzekeringen
General information, not tax or insurance advice. Rules and rates change; check the source if in doubt.
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