The calculator and the quote form below are in Dutch. Prefer to do this in English? Email info@finassverzekert. nl or call 072 - 509 24 56 and we will take it from there.
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
We compare the offerings of several insurers
An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Structurally, glass belongs to the building and therefore to the owner. In many commercial leases, however, glass insurance is placed by contract with the tenant, along with maintenance of the windows. If the lease does not say so, the landlord insures the glass on their buildings insurance and you are paying twice for nothing.
Covered are breakage of the windows forming part of the building, whatever the cause: a stone through the shop window, a ladder against the frontage, thermal stress cracking or storm. The policy pays for the glass and for fitting it, and usually also for the emergency repairs needed that same evening to make the premises secure.
Practice makes the difference: for a shop it is about the display window and the turnover lost while a sheet of plywood stands in front of it, for an office about insulating glazing, and for a bar or restaurant about a frontage that is vulnerable at night. See also our page on commercial glass insurance.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Our role
Independent
We are not tied to any single company.
Several providers compared
Advice follows your situation
AFM licence 12016589
When taking out cover
What we do
From assessment to policy.
Matching cover to your work
Conditions side by side
Switching, including cancellation
After that
In the event of a claim
What really matters.
Notification and guidance
Assessing a rejection
Objection where necessary
What is covered
What we look at
Explanation
Does the cover suit your activities
Yes
Sum insured and excess
Yes
Exclusions and clauses
Yes
Fit with your other policies
Yes
Premium in relation to the conditions
Yes
Comparing on premium alone
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
First read who insures the glass under the lease
In standard commercial lease models glass insurance is often allocated to the tenant, but that is not a rule of law and it is regularly agreed differently. If it rests with the landlord and you take out a policy anyway, you pay twice. If it rests with you and you do nothing, you bear the cost of a breakage yourself and the landlord can hold you liable for breach of the lease. We will check that provision with you.
Emergency boarding and the days that follow
A broken shop window has to be boarded up immediately, usually outside office hours and at an emergency rate. Check whether emergency boarding, removal of glass debris and the restoration of lettering or etching are included; on a large frontage those items together often exceed the cost of the glass itself. The turnover you lose while there is plywood across the front is not covered here but belongs to business interruption insurance.
Insulating double glazing: breakage yes, seal failure no
With double glazing the most common complaint is not breakage but condensation between the panes, because the sealant no longer does its job. That is an inherent defect and not breakage, and it is therefore an exclusion in virtually every policy. Some insurers offer a separate extension for it, usually limited to glazing below a certain age. Ask about it explicitly if your building has large areas of glass.
What is not included
Excluded are scratches, surface damage and breakage during building work, installation or transport of the pane. Frames, mouldings and the paintwork around them fall outside the cover as well, as does glass in greenhouses, horticultural glasshouses and separate secondary glazing. Breakage of glass in furniture, display cabinets and mirrors belongs to the business contents insurance. Illuminated signs and facade panels are only covered if they are expressly included.
What does your premium depend on?
Total glass area of the building. The square metres of glazing are the usual basis for the premium on this product.
Type of glazing. Single glazing, insulating glazing, toughened or laminated glass and Georgian wired glass differ considerably in replacement cost.
Size of the largest pane. A continuous shop frontage requires a crane and made-to-measure glass and costs far more to replace than several small panes.
Use of the premises. Bars, restaurants and shops in a nightlife area suffer more vandalism than an office on a business park.
Ancillary items covered as well. Illuminated signs, facade cladding, lettering and solar film are included in the cover separately.
Excess per pane. An excess keeps small panes out of the policy and reduces the premium for the large areas of glass.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your activities, turnover and wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
I rent my business premises. Do I have to insure the glass myself?
That depends entirely on your lease. In many model commercial contracts glass insurance is allocated to the tenant, but the parties regularly depart from that. Read through the article on maintenance and insurance and, if necessary, ask your landlord whether the glass is on their buildings policy. Avoid a situation in which both parties assume the other has arranged it.
Is condensation between my double glazing insured?
As a rule, no. The pane is not broken but leaks between the sheets because the edge seal has aged. That is a defect in the glass itself and not a sudden event. Only a separate extension for seal failure or leakage of insulating glazing covers this, usually with an age limit. Ask about it for older frontages, because replacing large insulating panes is expensive.
A stone through the window: does glass insurance also pay for the damage inside?
No, only the glass and the fitting of it, plus the emergency boarding. The damaged display case, the furniture soaked by rain and the goods stolen fall under your contents and goods insurance. So always report such an incident to the police and notify both covers. We submit the claim split between them so that you are not caught between two claims handlers.
The glazier breaks the new pane while fitting it. Who pays for that?
Not your glass insurance: breakage during installation, transport or building work is excluded as standard. This is a matter between you and the glazier, who had the pane in their care. Their liability insurance should pick it up through the care, custody and control cover. For larger frontages, ask in advance whether your supplier is insured for it and up to what amount, because made-to-measure glazing quickly adds up.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
