Basic cover
- Clean-up costs on your own site
- Soil contamination
- Water contamination
- After fire, explosion or lightning
Avéro Achmea · compared independently · advice from Finass
Environmental damage insurance for a VvE (Dutch owners' association) through Avéro Achmea
Environmental damage insurance pays for cleaning up soil, groundwater and the grounds around an apartment block, costs that neither the buildings policy nor the VvE's liability insurance covers.
- several insurers compared objectively
- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Milieuschadeverzekering vve via Avéro Achmea — vergelijk & bereken premie.
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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 your own premium with the calculator.
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
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Clean-up costs fit into no other policy. Buildings insurance pays for repairs to the building; liability insurance pays for third-party losses. But excavating contaminated soil on your own plot is neither: these are pure costs that the association has to incur because the authorities impose them, or because the contamination would otherwise spread to the neighbours.
The causes at a VvE are fairly predictable. An old domestic heating oil tank beneath the garden or the car park, a leaking pipe to a communal installation, a diesel tank for a standby generator, or firefighting water that after a fire spreads asbestos fibres from an old roof across the grounds and the gardens.
With soil contamination, what matters most is when the pollution arose. Contamination from before the start date remains outside the cover, even if it is only discovered later. Finass therefore advises looking at this policy together with the buildings insurance held by the VvE, so that after a fire it is clear which policy pays which part of the clean-up.
Through Finass or direct with Avéro Achmea?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Extended cover
As well as your own site, also surrounding land, work locations at third parties and incoming contamination.
- Clean-up of surrounding land
- Work location at a third party
- Defence & legal costs
Comprehensive cover
The most complete cover. We compare Avéro Achmea's extended version with the market.
- Repair of paving & pipes
- Employers' liability at the client's premises, third parties
- Business interruption during clean-up
- Retroactive cover (prior risk)
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV | Cyber |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injury to a visitor or customer | Yes | No | No |
| Damage to a client's property | Provided it is declared | No | No |
| Financial loss caused by an advisory or calculation error | No | Yes | No |
| Downtime after a ransomware attack | No | No | Yes |
| Data breach involving personal data | No | Provided it is declared | Yes |
| Damage to property in your care | No | No | No |
What we do
| What we do | At Finass | Direct with Avéro Achmea |
|---|---|---|
| Comparison across several insurers | Yes | No |
| Advice based on your own situation | Yes | Sometimes |
| One point of contact for claims | Yes | Sometimes |
| Cancellation with your current insurer arranged | Yes | No |
| We determine whether Avéro Achmea is the best choice | Yes | No |
| Advice fees for you as a customer | No | No |
This overview concerns our service, not the cover. What is actually covered is set out in the policy conditions and on the insurer's insurance card (verzekeringskaart); you receive both before you take out cover.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Clean-up of your own land and of someone else's
The cover is built around two locations: the VvE's own plot and the surrounding plots to which the contamination has flowed. Investigation costs, excavation, removal and processing of the soil, cleaning or replacing paving and restoring planting all fall under the clean-up costs. The costs of stopping the spread as soon as the leak is discovered are usually paid as well, provided you involve the insurer straight away.
Asbestos and firefighting water after a fire
In a fire at a block with older roofs or facade panels, asbestos fibres spread across gardens, car parks and balconies. Clearing them is remediation of the grounds, not repair of the building, and so falls outside the buildings policy. The same applies to contaminated firefighting water that ends up in the soil or in a ditch. Note that asbestos which simply has to be removed as planned without any preceding insured event is expressly not covered.
What the policy excludes
Outside the cover are: historical contamination that was already present before the start date, even where it only comes to light during building work; gradually occurring pollution from a tank or pipe that has visibly been in poor condition for years; and contamination resulting from a deliberate breach of permit conditions or of the duty of care. Fines and penalty payments imposed by the authorities cannot be insured, and neither can the replacement of the leaking tank or pipe itself.
Notification and the association's duty of care
Anyone who causes or discovers contamination must report it to the authorities as soon as possible and limit the consequences as far as possible. For the policy there is in addition the Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code: notify as soon as the board knows of it. If the VvE starts digging itself before the loss adjuster has been, the extent of the pollution can no longer be established afterwards and argument about the settlement follows.
Retroactive cover (prior risk)
Retroactive cover (prior risk) Included for your staff during work.
Defence & legal costs
What does your premium depend on?
- Presence of tanks — An underground oil tank or a diesel supply for a standby generator is the single most important risk factor.
- Year of construction and materials suspected of containing asbestos — Older corrugated sheet roofs, facade cladding and pipe insulation make a fire far more expensive to clear up.
- Soil conditions and groundwater level — In sandy soil with a high water table, a leak spreads more quickly to adjoining plots.
- Area of the plot — Gardens, parking decks and access roads determine how many square metres have to be cleaned up.
- Mixed use — A garage business, dry cleaner or catering unit at street level brings its own storage and waste streams.
- Sum insured and excess — Clean-ups are hard to budget for; the limit chosen per event strongly drives the premium.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
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.
9.5New policy
9.8Claims handling
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.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
We no longer have an oil tank, do we still need this?
A tank is not the only source. A leaking pipe to the communal heating, an overturned jerrycan in a storeroom or asbestos-containing material blown across the grounds after a storm or fire also leads to clean-up costs. An old tank that was once filled in is moreover sometimes still in the ground. If in doubt, ask for the records of what was set down at the time of that clean-up.
Does the liability insurance not already pay for this?
Only to a small extent. That policy comes into play only if a third party suffers loss and the VvE is liable for it. Cleaning your own plot is not a third party's loss, and those costs make up the largest part of a clean-up. Environmental damage is also expressly excluded or heavily restricted under most liability policies.
What if the pollution was already there when we bought the block?
Then it falls outside the cover. Insurers work with a start date: only contamination that arose after it qualifies for payment. For older blocks a baseline measurement or a historical soil survey is therefore useful. It establishes what was present at inception, so that a later leak does not lead to argument about the cause.
Is the investigation into the extent included as well?
As a rule, yes. The costs of soil investigation, boreholes and drawing up a remediation plan belong to the cover, even where it eventually turns out that no clean-up is needed. The condition is that the insurer has approved the investigation. So report a suspected leak before you instruct a consultancy yourself.
Read more
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Ready to compare?
Request a quote without obligation. We will look at which insurer best matches your activities and your risk.
Prefer to call? 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 09:00–17:00.
Claim on the road? Emergency line 06 - 55 20 40 72.
About our service
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.
This page was written and checked by an adviser at Finass Verzekert. Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.