For Dutch stichtingen that work with volunteers: how the municipality usually insures volunteers for free, and when the stichting needs extra cover.
Good to have
Volunteers are not employees, so the employer insurances in this overview do not always protect them. Almost every Dutch municipality has taken out a collective volunteer insurance, usually the VNG Vrijwilligersverzekering offered by the association of Dutch municipalities (see stichting.nl : Alles over de vrijwilligersverzekering ). The insurance is free for the stichting and its volunteers, and requires no registration or administration.
What it covers
The VNG insurance comes in two variants, and each municipality chooses which one it offers:
- The basic variant covers accidents of volunteers, their personal belongings and their liability towards others.
- The plus variant adds liability of the organization itself, directors' liability, traffic liability for the organization and legal expenses for volunteers.
In most cases the cover is secondary: when another insurance covers the damage (for example the stichting's own AVB or the volunteer's private liability insurance), that insurance pays first. The accident cover is the exception and pays out regardless.
What to check
The stichting checks the website of the municipality where it operates (search for "vrijwilligersverzekering" and the municipality name) to confirm which variant applies and what the limits are. When the stichting also has an AVB, the stichting checks whether volunteers are listed as insured persons in the policy. Many AVB policies include them. When the municipality only offers the basic variant, the stichting's own AVB and directors' liability insurance cover the organization and its board.