Over two-thirds of freelance builders have no insurance to cover them if they are unable to work, partly because insurance companies refuse to take them on, Trouw reports on Tuesday.

In particular, the over-45s find it almost impossible to get disability insurance because insurers consider the risk of them becoming injured is too high, the paper said.

Those who can get insurance find the cost – some €500 to €600 a month – to be prohibitive. And many policies include a clause stating that the over 60s are excluded anyway, the paper points out.

A poll of members of the self-employed building sector lobby group Zelfstandigen Bouw found just 31% now have disability insurance, compared with 72% in 2010, before the huge surge in freelancing.

There is pressure on the government from unions and some political parties who back the introduction of compulsory disability insurance for all freelancers. They argue that un-insured workers put too great a strain on the benefit system if they become unable to work through injury.

A spokesman for the insurance association VvV told Trouw there is no point in offering building workers insurance if they can’t afford the premiums.