Who is behind CoverMandate — and how does it make money?
A desk without bylines, a company you can look up, and — as of the last update on August 31, 2026 — no revenue.
CoverMandate is published by Friendly Faces, a Dutch company, and written by the CoverMandate verification desk — no bylines, no faces. As of August 31, 2026, the site earns nothing: not from ads, not from commissions, not from any insurer.
Who writes these pages?
The CoverMandate verification desk — not a person, but the working name for the work this site consists of: retrieving the public documents behind a policy, locating the passage that answers each Article 15 requirement, and recording document name, version, page or section, and the date of reading. The desk exists because "Schengen-approved" is a claim the internet makes freely and locates rarely; the desk's whole job is the location. What "verified" means here, cell by cell, is defined on the verification method page.
Why does no author have a name or a photo?
Because neither would give you anything to check. The trust this site asks for rests on its method, not on a résumé: every claim carries a document name, a version, a location, and a check date, so a reader can repeat the check without knowing who ran it first. An author box works the other way around — easy to fabricate, hard to verify; a portrait proves nothing about a matrix cell. We publish the testable part and skip the part you would have to take on faith.
Which company is legally responsible?
Friendly Faces, a sole proprietorship (eenmanszaak) registered in the Netherlands. Dutch law is explicit here: Article 3:15d(1) of the Civil Code requires a provider of an information society service to keep its identity, establishment address, contact details including an email address, and trade register number "gemakkelijk, rechtstreeks en permanent toegankelijk" — easily, directly and permanently accessible (wetten.overheid.nl, checked on August 31, 2026). A site built on pointing at provisions should point at the one that binds itself. In full:
- Publisher: Friendly Faces (sole proprietorship / eenmanszaak), Diamantlaan 95, Hoofddorp, the Netherlands
- Trade register (KvK) number: 64617394
- Email: elmar@friendlyfaces.nl
How does the site make money?
Today it does not, and you can audit that from your side of the screen: as of August 31, 2026, no page shows an ad, and every link to an insurer points at a public document or product page with nothing appended that could identify or pay us. Friendly Faces covers the running costs.
We expect that to change. The plan is to apply to insurance affiliate programs once the matrix is substantially larger; some links would then earn this site a commission when a reader buys through them. Three commitments take effect the day the first such link appears. It is marked as paid where it stands, at the link itself. A plain-language notice sits above the first paid link on any page that has one. And the matrix does not move: a cell quotes a document's wording, and wording does not improve because an insurer pays us.
How do you reach the desk?
By email at elmar@friendlyfaces.nl. A factual error in a matrix cell travels faster through the report-an-error page, which carries its own deadline: every report is put next to the named primary source within five working days. Praise is optional; corrections are the point.