Insurance for businesses and professionals
From the first employee, two obligations apply: declare staff to CNSS and insure them against work accidents. Everything after that is a matter of what your business could not survive losing.
Compulsory in some cases
At a glance
- Who needs it
- Employers, companies, traders, craftsmen, professionals, auto-entrepreneurs, builders and developers
- Legal basis
- Law 18-12 on work accidents; Insurance Code; rules of each regulated profession
- Key deadline
- Declare a work accident to the insurer within 5 days
- Typical cost
- Work-accident premiums are a percentage of payroll that depends on the activity
- Where to get it
- Brokers for anything beyond a standard contract. Agents and banks for package policies
What is compulsory
| Obligation | Who | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Work-accident insurance | Every employer | Law 18-12. The fine for having no insurance is 50,000 to 100,000 MAD |
| Declaring staff to CNSS | Every private-sector employer | Opens AMO, family allowances and pensions for employees |
| Motor liability | Every vehicle of the business | Declare the professional use |
| Site insurance and ten-year liability | Larger building projects | Compulsory since 30 December 2024 |
| Professional liability | Regulated professions such as doctors and clinics, lawyers, notaries, chartered accountants, architects, insurance intermediaries and travel agencies | Set by the law of each profession. Ask your professional body |
| Passenger-transport liability | Public passenger carriers | Minimum cover of 50 million MAD plus 1 million MAD per seat |
A landlord, a bank or a large customer may add contractual requirements: fire cover on leased premises, a liability certificate with a minimum amount, cover for goods entrusted to you.
Employer contributions to CNSS in 2026 are 8.98% for pensions and short-term benefits, on the salary up to 6,000 MAD, plus 4.11% for AMO, 6.40% for family allowances and 1.60% for the vocational training tax, all three on the whole salary.
Work accidents
Law 18-12 makes the employer responsible for accidents that happen at work or on the journey between home and work. Insurance transfers that responsibility to an insurer. AMO does not pay for work accidents.
What the insurance pays. All care related to the accident, a daily allowance of two thirds of the wage while the employee cannot work, a pension when a permanent disability remains, and pensions for the family after a fatal accident.
Steps and deadlines
- The employee, or someone on their behalf, informs the employer the same day, and within 48 hours at the latest.
- The employer declares the accident to the insurer within 5 days.
- A doctor issues an initial certificate, then a certificate of recovery or of stabilisation with a rate of permanent disability.
- The insurer makes a compensation offer within 30 days of receiving the certificate of recovery or the death certificate.
- The victim has 30 days to accept or contest. If there is no agreement, a conciliation attempt comes first and the court decides after that.
- If the condition worsens, the compensation can be reviewed during 5 years.
The premium is a rate applied to payroll, set by activity. It bears no insurance tax. Ask whether occupational diseases are included.
Liability
| Contract | What it covers | Typical example |
|---|---|---|
| Operations liability (RC exploitation) | Injury or damage caused to others while the business operates | A customer slips in your shop. A fire spreads to the neighbour |
| Product or after-delivery liability | Damage caused by a product sold or work completed | A faulty appliance starts a fire at a customer's home |
| Professional liability (RC professionnelle) | Financial loss caused to a client by an error, omission or negligence | An accounting mistake, a design error, lost data |
| Directors' liability | Claims against managers personally for management faults | A shareholder or a creditor sues a director |
Compare the amount per claim and per year, the deductible, and the exclusions. Ask whether a claim made after you stop trading is still covered, and whether work for customers abroad is included.
Premises, equipment and loss of income
- Multi-risk business cover (multirisque professionnelle). One contract for fire, explosion, water damage, theft, glass, electrical damage, stock and liability. It includes the catastrophic-events guarantee.
- Loss of income (pertes d'exploitation). After a fire or other insured damage, it pays fixed costs and lost margin while the business is stopped. Walls and stock can be replaced. The months without income are what close a business.
- Machinery and computers. Breakdown of machines, all-risks cover for IT equipment.
- Cyber risks. Data theft, ransomware, the cost of restoring systems and your liability towards the people whose data was exposed.
- Cash and valuables. In the safe and in transit.
Declare stock at its highest level of the year and update sums insured when you invest: under-insurance reduces every payout in proportion. A tenant insures its liability to the landlord, its fittings and its contents.
Vehicles and goods in transit
- Company vehicles. Liability cover is compulsory for each one. From a handful of vehicles, a fleet contract simplifies management. A contract written for private use does not cover deliveries or paid passenger transport.
- Goods in transit. A motor policy does not cover the goods carried, and a carrier's liability is limited. Cargo insurance (assurance transport or facultés) covers your goods by road, sea or air from door to door.
- Passenger transport. Taxis, coaches and staff transport need specific liability cover with higher minimums. Specialised insurers handle this class: see Insurers and contacts.
As a rule, risks located in Morocco must be insured with an insurer licensed in Morocco. A policy bought abroad does not replace it.
Building work: site insurance and ten-year liability
Two insurances have been compulsory since 30 December 2024 for larger projects.
| Insurance | Who takes it out | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Site insurance (tous risques chantier, TRC) | The project owner, before work starts | Damage to the works during construction, and liability to third parties |
| Ten-year liability (responsabilité civile décennale, RCD) | Architects, engineers and contractors, each for their part | Collapse and serious defects during ten years after completion |
They apply to housing of more than three storeys or more than 800 m², to hotel, industrial and commercial buildings, and to mixed-use buildings whose secondary use exceeds 400 m². The ten-year liability certificate is needed to obtain the occupancy permit, and fines for failing to insure reach 100,000 MAD.
Staff benefits
Beyond the legal minimum, group contracts are the usual way to attract and keep staff.
- Group health cover. Tops up AMO for employees and their families: see choosing a complementary policy.
- Group death and disability cover. A capital of one or several years of salary for the family.
- Complementary pension. CIMR or a group retirement contract with an insurer: see complementary pensions.
- Business travel. Yearly assistance contracts for staff who travel.
- Key person cover. Pays the company if the person it depends on dies or is disabled.
Credit insurance and other covers
- Credit insurance. Pays when a business customer does not settle its invoices, in Morocco or abroad. Three credit insurers are licensed: Coface Maroc, Allianz Trade and SMAEX, which specialises in exports.
- Bonds and guarantees. Insurers can issue the guarantees required for public contracts.
- Legal protection. Lawyer's fees in a dispute with a supplier, a customer or the administration.
- Employee fraud and theft.
- Events. Cancellation of an event and liability of the organiser.
Questions
I am an auto-entrepreneur and I work alone. What do I need?
AMO is compulsory and you pay it with your tax. Add professional liability if a mistake could cost a client money, cover for your equipment, and personal accident or disability cover, since nothing replaces your income if you cannot work.
I have a single employee. Must I insure work accidents?
Yes, from the first employee, including part-time staff, apprentices and trainees.
I keep stock at home. Does my home policy cover it?
No. Home policies exclude professional goods and equipment unless they are declared. Ask for an extension or a small business contract.
The landlord insures the building. Do I still need a contract?
Yes. The landlord's policy protects the landlord. You remain liable for fire or water damage to the premises, and your fittings, stock and loss of income are yours to insure.
A customer asks for a liability certificate with a minimum amount. How do I get it?
Ask your insurer or broker for a certificate stating the guarantees and amounts. If your ceiling is below the customer's requirement, it can usually be raised for an additional premium.
Can a subsidiary be insured under its foreign parent's policy?
Only as a complement. Risks located in Morocco must as a rule be insured locally, and international groups usually combine a Moroccan policy with their master programme.