Glasshouse horticulture · climate control · crop losses
Avéro Achmea's Greenhouse Crop insurance
Under glass, damage rarely comes from outside. A boiler that fails, a fault in the climate computer or an interrupted power supply can cost a whole crop within one night.
- 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: Teelt in Kassen-verzekering van 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.
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
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
With greenhouse crops the dividing line runs between two policies: the glasshouse structure and its glazing on one side, the crop inside the greenhouse on the other. This cover concerns the crop. If glass is broken by hail or storm, that is a matter for the greenhouse insurance; if the crop is then lost because the greenhouse stands open, the crop cover comes into play. Make sure both run with the same insurer, or two claims handlers will point at each other.
The risk that hits a glasshouse grower hardest in practice is failure of the installation. A defective boiler on a frosty night, a jammed vent motor on a hot day, a fault in the CO2 dosing or an interrupted electricity supply: the crop reacts within hours. Insurers cover that only where the fault is sudden and unforeseen, and they set requirements on alarms and maintenance.
Finass arranges this cover and compares several insurers objectively; which insurer it becomes follows from your cropping plan, the installations and the sections you need. Machinery damage to the installation itself is a separate product — see the machinery breakdown insurance — as are the fixed costs that continue after a failure, for which the business interruption insurance exists.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare commercial buildings insurance.
What to look out for
Four points that make the difference under glass between a payment and a refusal.
Alarms and standby power as a condition
Almost every crop cover under glass sets requirements for climate alarms: a fault alarm that actually reaches someone, a tested standby power supply and a clear fault procedure. If that appears as a warranty clause on the policy and the alarm turns out not to have worked when the loss occurred, that is not a detail but a ground for refusing payment.
Inherent defect in the planting material
Losses from a inherent defect in the propagation material (weak cuttings, infected seed, an error in raising the plants) are excluded. The same applies to viruses, fungi, bacterial diseases and pest insects, however sudden the outbreak may seem. A claim about that goes to the supplier, not to the crop policy; whether that is possible depends on your purchasing terms.
Operating error and deferred maintenance
A setting entered wrongly in the climate computer, an alarm switched off during works or a pump that has obviously been faltering for months: that is not an unforeseen event. Insurers exclude damage from deferred maintenance, wear and gradual action, and test that against your maintenance log. Damage you cause deliberately is not covered in any event under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Power failure outside your business
If the supply fails because of a fault in the public network or a defect in a third party's combined heat and power unit, that is by no means always insured as standard. There is often a separate section for failure of the energy supply, sometimes with a waiting period. Check this if your crop depends on lighting, heating or continuous CO2 dosing.
What does your premium depend on?
- Crop and growing cycle: a year-round crop under lights is more vulnerable than a short crop
- Area under glass: and how it is divided into separate compartments
- Climate control and energy plant: age, redundancy and standby power available
- Alarms and response: transmission to an alarm receiving centre is weighed differently from a text message
- Sections chosen: fire and storm only, or failure of installations as well
- Excess and claims history: per event and per insurance year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered on the crop under glass
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| The tomato crop freezes after the boiler suddenly fails on a frosty night | Provided that | Yes |
| The crop is lost because the roof stands open for days after a hailstorm | Yes | Yes |
| Plants are destroyed by firefighting water after a fire in the boiler house | Yes | Yes |
| A consignment of pot plants is damaged in transit to the auction | No | No |
| Peppers ready for picking are stolen from the greenhouse | No | Provided that |
| Delayed growth because the CO2 dosing was set too low for a week without anyone noticing | No | No |
As soon as the crop leaves the greenhouse, the risk moves to goods in transit insurance with conditions of its own.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Is crop damage from a broken boiler covered?
Only if the section for failure of the climate control or energy plant is on your policy. The insurer will then look at whether the failure was sudden and unforeseen and whether your alarm worked. Repairing the boiler itself does not fall under the crop cover. That is a matter for machinery breakdown or plant cover.
What if a virus wipes out my whole crop?
That is not insured. Diseases, viruses, fungi and pests are excluded on crop covers, however fast the outbreak develops. The cost of disinfecting, clearing and starting the crop again is also for your own account. What you can do is set up hygiene protocols and purchasing terms so that you can hold a supplier to account.
Does this policy also insure the glass of the greenhouse?
No. The glazing, the structure, the screens and the fixed installations belong on greenhouse or buildings cover. Crop insurance concerns the crop inside that greenhouse. If the two run with different insurers, check expressly how consequential damage to the crop after glass breakage is dealt with, because that is where most of the disputes arise.
Must I report a fault immediately?
Yes. Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to report a loss as soon as you are reasonably aware of it, and crop cover often requires immediate notification as well, so that a loss adjuster can still assess the crop in its damaged state. If you clear the crop first and report afterwards, the extent of the loss can no longer be established and little remains to be paid.
Read more
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