Land tenancy · manure and permits · livestock
Business legal expenses insurance for agricultural businesses through Avéro Achmea
On a farm the conflict comes from the authorities more often than from a customer. Tenancy, manure allowances and permits decide what you may do, and a decision on those affects your whole operation.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Bedrijfsrechtsbijstandverzekering voor het agrarisch bedrijf via Avéro Achmea.
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.
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- We compare the offerings of several insurers
- An adviser checks whether the cover suits your activities
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Where a trading business falls out with a supplier, an agricultural business has to deal with a decision. A reduction in payment entitlements, an enforcement letter about your manure accounts, a nature permit refused or withdrawn, an instruction from the NVWA (the Dutch food and consumer product safety authority): all administrative law processes with short and absolute deadlines for objecting. A policy without the administrative law module leaves you entirely on your own here, however good the contracts module is. That is the first thing we check when comparing.
Finass is independent and compares the offering of more than thirty insurers. Avéro Achmea is one of the insurers we can place business with; which provider fits follows from your sector, your land position and your livestock numbers. Background on this insurer is at Avéro Achmea, and a sector page can be found at agricultural legal expenses.
The second distinctive theme is agricultural tenancy. The tenancy rules in Article 7:311 of the Dutch Civil Code onwards differ sharply from ordinary letting: there are mandatory provisions on duration, price and termination, and disputes end up before the agricultural tenancy division. If your business runs on tenanted land, a notice to quit or a discussion about the rent is not a side issue but an existential dispute. Check that tenancy is mentioned in so many words in the conditions; it is by no means always included under a general 'property' module.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare personal legal expenses insurance (rechtsbijstandverzekering).
What to look out for
Four subjects that set an agricultural business apart from an average SME.
Deadlines for objecting are short and absolute
There is usually a six-week period in which to object to a decision. If you let that period run out, no lawyer can challenge the decision any more, even if the cover is in order. So report an enforcement letter or an official decision in the same week; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code obliges you to report in good time, and the administrative law deadline makes delay impossible to repair.
Loss caused by animals is liability, not legal expenses
If livestock breaks out and causes damage, you are liable as the keeper under Article 6:179 of the Dutch Civil Code, even without fault. Your liability insurer conducts that defence. Legal expenses only come into play if you want to recover loss yourself, for instance from the party that damaged the fence or fenced the plot incorrectly.
Disputes about livestock, seed and crop protection
A batch of livestock with an undeclared condition, seed that does not germinate, a product that damages the crop: these are contract disputes against a supplier. Complain in good time, because Article 6:89 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to protest within a reasonable time after you discovered the defect or should have discovered it. Have the defect recorded by an independent expert before you dispose of the crop or the animals.
What a family business cannot get covered
Almost always excluded are disputes between partners or shareholders, and with them most conflicts around succession within the family. Also outside the cover are tax disputes and cases about financing and security, as well as the administrative fine itself for a breach of the manure or environmental rules.
What does your premium depend on?
- Sector: dairy farming, arable farming, glasshouse horticulture or intensive livestock farming
- Land position: ownership, regulated tenancy or liberalised tenancy
- Size of the herd or the acreage: determines the permit requirement and how closely you are supervised
- Number of employees: including seasonal workers and family members working in the business
- Modules chosen: administrative law, tenancy, contracts, employment, debt collection
- Secondary activities: farm-gate sales, letting or contract work for third parties
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What the lawyer handles
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| An enforcement letter from the NVWA about your manure accounts | No | Yes |
| The local authority refuses the permit for your new young stock shed | No | Yes |
| Your landlord gives notice to end the tenancy | No | Provided that |
| Seed from a supplier fails to come up | Yes | Yes |
| An invoice for contract work from last season remains unpaid | Yes | Yes |
| A disagreement with your partner about succession in the business | No | No |
Without the administrative law module you lose exactly the part an agricultural business deals with most often.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Is a dispute about my nature permit covered?
Only with the administrative law module, and even then limits apply. An objection and appeal against a decision of the competent authority are usually covered; starting an application, having calculations drawn up and the cost of advice beforehand usually are not. Ask about this distinction explicitly, because with permits it is the preparatory stage that costs the most.
Does the policy help with a discussion about my manure accounts?
You can object to an enforcement decision or a reduction, provided administrative law is included. The fine imposed or the recovery itself is never reimbursed, because that is a penalty or a correction and not a loss. The lawyer concentrates on whether the assessment is factually correct and whether the competent authority followed the correct procedure.
Does a dispute with my landlord fall under the cover?
If agricultural tenancy is expressly included, yes. That covers notice to quit, extension, the rent or the state of the tenanted land. These cases run through the agricultural tenancy division and follow the mandatory rules in Article 7:311 of the Dutch Civil Code onwards. A dispute already running when the policy started remains outside the cover, even if it only escalates later.
What if my customer goes bankrupt with an invoice outstanding?
The debt collection module can send reminders and, if necessary, start proceedings, but it does not pay out the amount. If your customer is bankrupt, handling usually stops and all that remains is lodging the claim with the trustee. If you want to cover the payment risk itself, that is credit insurance and not legal expenses insurance.
Read more
Within Rechtsbijstandverzekering
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