Registering a cooperative or mutual insurance association
- Edited 20 May 2025
- 1 min
A civil-law notary sets up a new cooperative or mutual insurance association (onderlinge waarborgmaatschappij) for you. Usually, the civil-law notary registers all the necessary information with KVK. For example, for the KVK Business Register and the UBO register. This means you do not also have to visit KVK.
What are cooperatives and mutual insurance associations?
Cooperative
A cooperative is a legal structure in which entrepreneurs or organisations work together. With a cooperative, you can, for example, purchase products together or share high costs. Think of a farmers' market, where farmers come together to sell their own products. A cooperative can be seen as a mix of an association and a private limited company (BV). Like an association, a cooperative has members. The difference is that a cooperative is allowed to pay out profits to its members. An association is not allowed to do so. Read more about this legal structure.
Mutual insurance association
A mutual insurance association is a specific form of cooperative. Its purpose is to help its members take out insurance policies together.
The process for the civil-law notary
The civil-law notary first draws up a notarial deed for the coöperatie (cooperative) or onderlinge waarborgmaatschappij (mutual insurance association). This is official proof of establishment. Then the civil-law notary arranges the registration in the KVK Business Register and registers its UBOs. You can later view and change the data via My KVK.
Confirmation of registration
After registering in the Business Register, you will receive a letter by post with your KVK number. We will also send you an invoice for the registration fee. These will be sent to the cooperative or mutual insurance association's postal address. You can also order an extract from the Business Register. You use this as proof of registration.
KVK will notify the Netherlands Tax Administration
You will receive a notification from the Tax Administration (Belastingdienst) by post within 2 weeks. If required, they also send you a VAT identification number (VAT ID) and a VAT tax number (omzetbelastingnummer).
Apply for eHerkenning
You file tax returns via Mijn Belastingdienst . To use this, you need to log in with eHerkenning. There is a fee to apply for an eHerkenning account.
Frequently asked questions
To register a new enterprise or organisation, you must pay a registration fee. If you want to purchase a certified KVK Extract from the Business Register when you register, you can do this directly.
You can find a civil-law notary on (in Dutch)
More information on civil-law notaries in the .
To incorporate a new business or organisation you will pay between €500 and €1,500 depending on the civil-law notary you use.
Is your question not included? More frequently asked questions can be found on our Help and contact page. It also states how you can contact us.