Who is behind CoverMandate — and how does it make money?
A desk without bylines, a company you can look up, and — since September 1, 2026 — exactly one marked source of revenue.
CoverMandate is published by Friendly Faces, a Dutch company, and written by the CoverMandate verification desk — no bylines, no faces. Since September 1, 2026 the site has exactly one source of revenue: marked advertisement links to EKTA on that insurer's own check page. No insurer pays to appear in the matrix, and no payment changes a verdict.
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?
Since September 1, 2026, through one affiliate program: EKTA (via the Travelpayouts network) pays this site a commission when a reader buys a policy through the marked advertisement link on the EKTA check page. The price you pay does not change. No other link on the site pays us anything — every other insurer link points at a public document or product page with nothing appended — and there is no advertising. Friendly Faces covers the remaining running costs.
The three commitments made before the first paid link appeared are now in effect. The link is marked as an advertisement where it stands, at the link itself. A plain-language notice sits above it on every page that has one. And the matrix does not move: the EKTA verdict — "states most — see notes", including its notes on the insurer's Anjouan registration — was recorded on August 31, 2026, before the link existed, and reads today exactly as it did then. 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.