Amsterdam Volunteer Insurance

The Amsterdam Volunteer Insurance (AVV) is a secondary liability and accident insurance policy for all volunteers. This also applies if you are an informal care provider or doing a community internship. The insurance applies only while volunteering or providing informal  care and commuting. As of January 1, 2023, board liability will also be covered by the AVV. The cost of this insurance is paid by the municipality.

Who is insured?

The volunteer
The volunteer is someone who performs unpaid work in an organizational context, without obligation, for the benefit of others and/or society in which a social interest is served. Persons who carry out activities as part of civic initiatives, working groups, committees, residents’ groups and churches are also considered volunteers. Refugees are also covered by this insurance. In exceptional cases, the AVV applies to volunteers working for a sole proprietor, if there is a social interest and no profit motive involved.

The informal caregiver
The informal caregiver provides long-term, unpaid care for a chronically ill, disabled partner, parent, child or other family member, friend or acquaintance needing support.

The social trainee
The social trainee is a secondary school student who completes an internship in which the student is introduced to taking responsibility for social interests by doing volunteer work.

Who is not insured?

• Volunteers from outside the EU who are staying here as tourists
• Volunteer fire departments and police
• Professional workers

Secondary

The liability insurance is a secondary insurance. This means that the organization’s and volunteer’s own insurance always takes precedence. If those (legal) persons are not insured or their insurance will not reimburse, the AVV (Amsterdam Volunteer Insurance) comes into effect. You can never be double insured. The accident insurance is a primary insurance.

Location

The volunteer, caregiver and social trainee are insured if they perform their activities within the municipality of Amsterdam, regardless of where they live. If volunteers/trainees perform activities for an Amsterdam organization elsewhere, they are also insured. In that case, any volunteer insurance from the other municipality takes precedence.

What is covered?

• Liability of volunteers
• Accidents
• Personal property
• Traffic liability
• Legal aid for volunteers
• Board liability  

What  is not covered?

• Third-party liability (e.g., visitors/participants)
• Third party accidents
• Board liability (until 1-1-2023)

Other types of insurance

Some volunteer organizations need additional insurance, such as  corporate liability, board liability, property liability or data/cybercrime liability insurance. For more information, please follow this link (in Dutch).

You do not receive a policy

You do not need to register your organization for the Amsterdam Volunteer Insurance and you do not receive a policy: the insurance automatically applies to all volunteers, informal caregivers and interns in Amsterdam. We recommend that you keep track in your records of who in the organization is a volunteer or social trainee.

Reporting damage

For detailed information about the coverage and registration of claims, please visit the website of VGA Verzekeringen. Contact persons at VGA are Pierre Tol and Arjen Verhoef.