Business · compared independently · advice from Finass
Insuring for business and private use
If you drive the same car for your work and for the family, everything turns on two lines on the policy schedule: the description of use and the group of people allowed to drive.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Insurers divide car use into categories: private use only, private use including commuting, business use, and professional carriage of people or goods. That description of use appears on your policy schedule and is decisive. If you regularly drive round to customers, deliver materials or carry colleagues while private use is insured, the actual risk differs from the risk insured. When you claim, that is a ground for adjusting the payment under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code.
The second point is whose name it is in. If the car and the policy are in your company's name, the no-claims years are built up by the company and not by you personally. When the business ends or the car moves into private ownership, you rarely come out of that without losing something. The other way round, you drive a private car for business without the insurer knowing. Discuss whose name the policy is in before it starts, not afterwards.
If an employee is behind the wheel, a second layer of policy comes into it. The employer has a duty of care where employees take part in traffic, and that touches Articles 7:611 and 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code. You can read more about that at business car insurance. If you carry a load or tools, also look at insuring a van for business use.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Our starting point
Comparing independently
We compare Business with several insurers.
No ties to a single insurer
Advice tailored to your situation
We arrange the switch
What we do
What we do
At Finass
Direct with Zakelijk
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 Business 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.
The description of use has to match what happens in practice
Private use, commuting and business use are three different categories with their own premium. If your business grows and you make more customer visits, the risk changes without the policy moving with it. Pass that on. If it emerges after a claim that the car had been used differently from what was insured for months, the insurer may adjust the payment to what it would have insured had the declaration been correct. Professional carriage for payment is excluded as standard.
No-claims years follow the policyholder
If the policy is in the name of your sole trader business or your BV, the years built up sit in that name. If the business stops or the car moves into private ownership, transferring them is not a matter of course and the approach differs from company to company. With a private policy that you use for business, the years stay with you personally. Choose deliberately and ask in writing in advance whether a transfer is possible; afterwards you will be empty-handed.
Your employee behind the wheel
An employee who drives for work falls under the employer's duty of care. It follows from Article 7:611 of the Dutch Civil Code that you must make proper provision for the risk of injury and damage in traffic. There is a separate motor accident policy for employees for that. And recovery is barely possible: Article 7:661 of the Dutch Civil Code protects the employee against liability towards you, unless there is intent or wilful recklessness. The excess therefore stays with the company.
A load and tools are not on the motor policy
The motor policy covers the vehicle as registered, including permanently fitted equipment if that has been declared. Tools, materials and customers' goods fall outside it, even where they are stolen from a locked van. A separate business contents or goods in transit policy is needed for that. If you carry third parties' goods for payment, carrier's liability comes on top; that is a policy form of its own with its own limits.
What does your premium depend on?
Description of use. Private, commuting or business use forms the basis of the rating and must match reality.
Annual mileage. Combined use almost always means more kilometres than purely private use; declaring too few is risky.
Name in which the policy is held. In the company's name or your own. That determines where the no-claims years are built up.
Circle of drivers. One regular driver is rated more favourably than a car driven by changing employees.
Type of vehicle and fitted equipment. A passenger car, a van with a fitted-out interior and a pick-up each have their own rating.
Business claims history. Claims on the company's other vehicles count as soon as the policy is in the company's name.
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.
For insurance purposes you may, provided the policy schedule states business use and the group of drivers is described widely enough. If your partner or a child living at home also drives, check whether they are permitted as drivers. Some commercial policies limit driving to the business owner and his employees. If there is a restriction, have it amended before anyone else gets in.
Do I take my no-claims years with me if I stop trading?
Not automatically. Years built up on a policy in the company's name sit with that legal entity or trading name. Some insurers allow a transfer to the director personally, often subject to conditions and to proof that you were the regular driver. Ask about that before you cancel the policy; once it has been cancelled it is hard to put right.
Are my tools in the car covered as well?
No. The motor policy covers the vehicle, not what you carry in it. You insure tools and materials through a business contents or tools policy, and customers' goods through transit cover. Watch the prevention conditions too: many policies exclude theft at night unless the van is in a locked space or the tools have been taken out.
Can I recover the excess from my employee?
Rarely. Article 7:661 of the Dutch Civil Code provides that an employee is not liable for damage he causes to his employer in the performance of his work, unless there is intent or wilful recklessness. A term in the employment contract can depart from that only to a limited extent. So expect the excess to remain at the company's expense.
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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