Whether your machine, server or toolbox is insured does not depend on what the item is worth, but on whether the damage came from outside or from within.
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
Business contents insurance covers your business assets against an external peril: fire, water, storm, burglary, impact. That is the heart of the policy and at the same time its most important limitation. A server that fails because of a faulty power supply, a compressor that seizes, a control cabinet that short-circuits. That is damage from within and falls outside it. There are separate types of cover for that: electronics insurance for equipment and data-processing installations, and machinery breakdown insurance for production equipment.
The second dividing line is where the items are. Business contents are covered at the address stated on the policy. Tools in the van, measuring equipment on a building site, a generator at a client's premises or a laptop on the road are not automatically included. That calls for plant or tools cover with a defined territory. Theft from a vehicle almost always comes with conditions about locking, alarms and whether the vehicle must be empty overnight.
The third question is who owns it. Hired, leased or retention-of-title assets are not in your name but are your responsibility. Check for each item who has to insure it and who belongs on the policy schedule as beneficiary.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The basics
Liability
AVB for property damage and injury, BAV for professional errors.
Damage to third parties
Employers' liability
Care, custody and control as an extension
Your business
Assets and continuity
Business contents, goods and lost turnover during downtime.
Business contents at replacement value as new
Goods at cost price
Business interruption or additional costs
If you employ people
Staff
Sickness absence, accidents and the traffic risk.
Continued pay for 104 weeks
Group personal accident
WEGAS for traffic risks
What is covered
Situation
AVB
BAV
Cyber
Injury to a visitor or customer
Yes
No
No
Damage to a client's property
Sometimes
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
Sometimes
Yes
Damage to property in your care
No
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
From outside or from within determines the section
This is the question that comes back with almost every rejection. Fire, storm and burglary come from outside and fall under business contents. Inherent defect, short circuit, overheating, an operating error or a seized component comes from within and falls outside it. If your business runs on one machine or one server room, electronics or machinery breakdown cover is not an extension but the core of your insurance.
Replacement value as new does not apply indefinitely
Business contents are normally paid on the basis of replacement value as new but with a depreciation clause: if the market value has fallen below a set proportion of the replacement value as new, or if the item is older than a stated period, payment switches to market value. With IT equipment and machinery that happens quickly. Check that clause before you base the sum insured on what replacement would cost today.
Standing idle costs more than the equipment
Replacing a machine is paid for. The weeks in which you cannot produce are not. For that you need business interruption cover or cover for additional costs, with an indemnity period that matches the real delivery time of your equipment. For specialist machinery with long lead times, a period of twelve months is tight. Work out that period on the basis of your longest-lead component, not on an average.
What falls outside the cover as a matter of course
Not covered are: wear, ageing and corrosion, repairs under guarantee or a maintenance contract, data and software as such (that is cyber territory), theft from an unlocked space or vehicle, gradual damage from moisture or temperature, and hired items without tenant's interest or care, custody and control cover. Damage you cause deliberately remains excluded under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
Sum insured for business contents. The replacement value of everything at the policy address, including fixtures and fittings.
Nature of the business assets. Electronics, production machinery and hand tools each have their own rate and form of cover.
Location and construction of the premises. Compartmentation, fire prevention and the immediate surroundings determine the fire risk.
Security against burglary. Certification of locks, alarm response and CCTV all count towards acceptance and premium.
Cover away from the policy address. Tools in vehicles and plant on site call for a separately defined territory.
Excess and basis of valuation. Replacement value as new or market value, and the level of the excess per event.
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.
Not under the business contents insurance, which is tied to the policy address, and not under the motor policy either, which covers the vehicle and not its contents. You need tools or plant cover. That almost always comes with the requirement that the vehicle is properly locked and stands empty overnight or in a locked space. See also business car insurance.
What does machinery breakdown cover that business contents insurance does not?
Sudden and unforeseen damage arising from within: an inherent defect in the material, a short circuit, overheating, running out of balance, or an operating error by your employee. Those are precisely the causes a business contents policy excludes, because no external peril is involved. At manufacturing businesses this category causes most of the downtime in practice.
Do I have to insure leased equipment myself?
That depends on the form. With operating leases the duty to insure usually rests with the leasing company, with finance leases with you, in which case the financier often belongs on the policy schedule as beneficiary. Where goods are supplied subject to retention of title, the supplier is still the owner while the risk already lies with you. Go through your contracts and record for each item who insures it. See also financial lease.
Are my data and software insured as well?
The medium is, the content is not. If a server burns, the electronics cover pays for the hardware and usually the cost of reconstructing data from an existing back-up. Loss of data through ransomware, a hack or human error without physical damage falls outside it and belongs with cyber insurance. So check separately how your back-up is arranged and where it is kept.
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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