Avéro Achmea · compared independently · advice from Finass
Agency workers, interns & volunteers for VvEs through Avéro Achmea
Legal expenses insurance for a VvE (Dutch owners' association) pays for the lawyers the association needs when an owner fails to pay, a contractor does not finish the work or a managing agent does not keep to the agreement.
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
A VvE rarely encounters physical loss, but it constantly encounters conflict. The service charge an owner has not paid for three quarters while maintenance simply carries on. The contractor who hands over the renovated roof with leaks and hides behind the guarantee clauses. The managing agent who fails to supply documents. Without a policy the association pays for each of those files out of the reserve fund.
The difference from the association's other policies lies in what is reimbursed: this is not about loss but about legal help and legal costs. A legal expenses insurer makes a lawyer available, conducts the correspondence, negotiates and litigates where necessary, with a limit for external costs.
When comparing, look at three things: the waiting period after the start date, the threshold amount below which a case is not taken on, and which modules are included. Debt collection and contracts are usual for a VvE; employment law only if the association employs staff itself.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Basic cover
The basic cover insures the core of your legal expenses insurance for VvEs. We show what Avéro Achmea and other insurers offer within it.
Debt collection on unpaid invoices
Contract & delivery disputes
Legal advice
Disputes with suppliers
Extended cover
As well as debt collection and contracts, also employment law, disputes about your business premises and disputes with public authorities.
Employment law & staff
Business premises (rented or owned)
Public authorities & permits
Recovery of traffic damage
Complete package
The most complete cover. We compare Avéro Achmea's extended version with the market.
Free choice of lawyer in legal proceedings
Tax law & tax disputes
Administrative law
Higher allowance for external costs
What is covered
Situation
Basic
Extended
Dispute with a contractor about work on your home
Yes
Yes
Recovering damages for personal injury after a collision
Yes
Yes
Employment dispute or dismissal
Provided that
Yes
Dispute about a purchase or a delivery
Yes
Yes
Tax dispute or dispute about assets
No
Provided that
A dispute that was already running before the start date
No
No
Legal expenses insurance has a waiting period after the policy starts and a threshold: a case is not taken on below a certain financial interest. If the case goes to court, you have a free choice of lawyer. A dispute whose cause already existed when you took out the insurance is excluded.
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.
Collection of overdue contributions
The module used most. If an owner does not pay the monthly contribution, the budget stays under water and the others have to make up the difference. The debt collection module arranges reminders, a summons and, if necessary, enforcement against the apartment right. It is important that the claim is undisputed: if the owner has a substantive defence, for instance about the allocation formula in the deed of division, the case moves to the ordinary contracts module.
Disputes with contractors, managing agents and suppliers
Maintenance on a block runs through large contracts: façade renovation, roof replacement, lift modernisation, painting. If that goes wrong, a discussion follows about completion, guarantees and extra work in which the VvE faces a party with its own lawyers. The management contract itself can also be the subject of a dispute. The contracts module covers these cases, provided the work was ordered after the insurance started.
Resolutions, neighbours and the authorities
An owner who disagrees with a resolution of the general meeting can go to the sub-district court to have it set aside. There are also disputes with the local authority about permits, enforcement or assessments, and with neighbouring properties about boundaries, rainwater or building nuisance. Whether cases like these are included depends on the modules chosen. Tax objections and administrative law proceedings can often be added separately.
What a legal expenses policy does not do
Excluded are disputes that were already running or foreseeable when the policy was taken out. That is exactly what the waiting period is for. Also outside the cover: conflicts between individual owners to which the VvE is not a party, criminal cases and fines, and the amount of the claim itself. The insurer pays for the legal help, not the service charge you lose or the loss the contractor caused.
Retroactive cover (prior risk)
Retroactive cover (prior risk) Included for your staff during work.
Defence & legal costs
What does your premium depend on?
Number of apartment rights. More owners means statistically more payment arrears and more resolutions being challenged.
Modules chosen. Debt collection, contracts, employment law and tax law are priced separately and are not all needed.
Mixed use. Shop or catering units in the block lead to heavier tenancy and nuisance disputes.
Own staff. A caretaker or cleaner on the payroll makes the employment law module necessary.
Waiting period and threshold amount. A longer waiting period or higher threshold keeps small cases outside the policy and holds the premium down.
Limit for external costs. The maximum for lawyers and experts in court proceedings.
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.
As soon as court or administrative proceedings are brought in which the other party is also represented, you have the right to free choice of lawyer. The insurer then reimburses the costs up to the limit set in the conditions. Outside proceedings the in-house legal department handles the case. So report the dispute to the insurer before you instruct a lawyer yourself.
What is the waiting period and why does it exist?
After the policy is taken out there is a period during which new disputes are not yet taken on. It prevents a VvE from taking out the insurance at the moment the conflict with the contractor or the defaulting owner is already visible. For debt collection the waiting period is usually shorter than for contract disputes. So take out the policy when things are calm, not when they are already going wrong.
Does the policy cover a conflict between two residents?
No. An argument about noise, a fence or a shared wall takes place between individual owners. For that they have their own personal legal expenses insurance. If the association as a whole is challenged, for instance because an owner contests a resolution of the general meeting or ignores the house rules, then the VvE is a party and this policy comes into play.
Do we get the money back from the defaulting owner through this policy?
No, the insurance pays for the legal effort to collect the claim, not the claim itself. If the owner turns out to have no means, the arrears remain at the association's expense. The insurer does bear the legal and bailiff's costs, and it is precisely those costs that would otherwise make collecting a small amount uneconomic.
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.
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