Amsterdam Volunteer Insurance

The Amsterdam Volunteer Insurance (AVV) is an insurance for volunteers, informal caregivers, and social interns in Amsterdam. The insurance is valid during volunteer work, informal care, and social internships. The costs for this insurance are fully covered by the municipality of Amsterdam. Registration is not required.

Who is insured?

Volunteers

Volunteers are individuals who perform work for the benefit of others and/or society in an organizational context, voluntarily and without payment, serving a social interest.
People who are active within citizen initiatives, working groups, committees, resident groups, and church communities.
Refugees, including those without status who are staying in emergency shelters, provided they are doing volunteer work.
In exceptional cases: volunteers at a sole proprietorship, provided there is a social interest and no profit motive is involved.

Informal caregivers

Informal caregivers are individuals who provide long-term and unpaid care to a chronically ill, disabled, or needy partner, parent, child, family member, friend, or acquaintance.

Social interns

A social intern is a student from secondary education who gets to know the responsibility for social interests through an internship. This is not vocational training, but character building.

Who are not insured?

Volunteers from outside the EU who are staying here as tourists.
Volunteer fire department and police (they have their own insurance).
Volunteers of a homeowners association.
Professional forces (the insurance only applies to volunteers).

What is covered?

✅ Liability (damage to third parties) – secondary.
✅ Accidents and personal belongings – primary.
✅ Legal assistance – secondary.
✅ Directors’ liability – secondary.
✅ For organizations, the following also applies: (traffic) liability – secondary

There is no excess.

Primary versus secondary

1. Secondary coverage means:

The organization’s or volunteer’s own insurance always takes precedence.
If this insurance does not exist or does not provide coverage, the AVV comes into effect.

2. The accident insurance is a primary insurance. It can be directly invoked.

What is not covered?

❌ Liability for third parties (for example, damage caused by visitors/participants at an event).
❌ Accidents involving third parties.

Where does the insurance apply?

Volunteers, informal caregivers, and social interns are insured as long as they carry out their activities for an Amsterdam volunteer organization, regardless of where they live.
As volunteers/interns from an Amsterdam organization carry out activities elsewhere in the Netherlands or Europe, they are also insured.

In all other cases, the potential volunteer insurance from the other municipality takes precedence.

Supplementary insurances

If an organization has its own directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, we recommend comparing these policy conditions with the policy conditions of the AVV. If the AVV is sufficient, the personal insurance may possibly be terminated.

Some organizations require additional insurances, such as:

Business liability
Asset liability
Data/cybercrime liability

Download the information sheet: Are we well insured?

No registration is required

You will not receive a policy. Volunteers, informal caregivers, and social interns do not need to register: the insurance applies automatically.

Questions? Report damage?

For detailed information about the coverage, please contact Arjen Verhoef from the municipality VGA Verzekeringen – AVerhoef@vga.amsterdam.nl / 085-0811900 (Select option 2 – business in the menu).

To report damage: email to schade@vga.amsterdam.nl mentioning Amsterdam Volunteer Insurance. Or use it digital damage report form.