Replacement value as new · 40% rule · tenant's improvements
Compare business contents insurance
Business contents insurance is a simple policy with two awkward questions: what are your business contents really worth, and who insures the floor, the kitchen and the partition walls you installed yourself?
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.
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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 fire, storm, water, burglary and vandalism. business contents covers machinery, furniture, computers, tools and equipment; goods covers your trading stock, raw materials and semi-finished goods. The two are often insured on one policy with a separate amount for each part.
Cover is provided on the basis of replacement value as new: the amount needed to buy an item of the same kind and quality new. There is a limit to that, though. As soon as the market value of an item falls below roughly 40 per cent of the new value, most insurers pay at market value. That also applies to items you no longer use or that have been withdrawn from your business.
The element that is consistently forgotten is tenant's improvements: everything you as a tenant have had installed in the premises that has become fixed to the structure. That is not business contents, nor does it fall under your landlord's buildings policy.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The basics
Business contents
Your business assets: machinery, furniture, equipment and tools.
Fire, smoke and water
Burglary and theft
Storm and rainfall
Vandalism
Stock
Goods
Trading stock, raw materials and semi-finished goods, with their own sum insured.
Seasonal increase possible
The value fluctuates
Spoilage sometimes separate
Often forgotten
Tenant's improvements
What you as a tenant installed yourself and which has become fixed.
Floors and ceilings
Kitchen and bathroom fittings
Partition walls and lighting
What is covered
Situation
Covered
Fire or water damage to your machinery
Yes
Burglary with signs of forced entry
Yes
The floor and kitchenette you installed
Sometimes
Stock that is higher during the peak than the sum insured
Sometimes
A machine that fails from within
No
Money in the till and negotiable paper
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.
Underinsurance is calculated proportionately, even for small claims
If your business contents are insured for half their actual value, even a claim of two thousand euros is paid only in half. So it affects not only the major fire but precisely the small claims you did expect to be paid. Check the sum insured each year, certainly after investing.
The 40% line between new value and market value
Replacement value as new applies as long as the market value is reasonably close to it. If the market value falls below roughly 40 per cent of the new value, most insurers pay at market value. For older machinery that means a considerably lower payment than the sum insured suggests. So do not let old equipment run automatically in a new-value calculation.
Tenant's improvements belong separately on the policy
If you have laid a floor, fitted a kitchenette or put up walls in rented premises, that is tenant's improvements. It is not business contents, because it is fixed, and it does not fall under the landlord's buildings policy, because he did not pay for it. Without a separate section it is uninsured, and it easily runs into tens of thousands of euros.
Machinery breakdown is something other than business contents
Business contents insurance covers external perils. If a machine fails from within — inherent defect, a short circuit, an operating error &mdash. That is machinery breakdown and that is separate cover. In manufacturing businesses that is the difference between an insured and an uninsured standstill.
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.
What counts as business contents and what as goods?
Business contents are your business assets: machinery, furniture, equipment and tools. Goods are your trading stock, raw materials and semi-finished goods. Each gets its own sum insured, because the value of stock fluctuates more.
Will I be paid the replacement value as new?
In principle yes. But as soon as the market value falls below roughly 40 per cent of the new value, most insurers pay at market value. That also applies to items you no longer use.
What are tenant's improvements?
Everything you as a tenant have had installed in the premises and which has become fixed: floors, ceilings, a kitchenette, bathroom fittings, partition walls. It is not business contents and it does not fall under your landlord's buildings insurance. Declare it separately.
What happens with underinsurance?
Then payment is made proportionately. If you are insured for half, you are paid half of every claim, however small. Have the sum insured checked periodically, certainly after investments or alterations.
Is my stock covered during the peak as well?
Only if you arrange it. If your stock fluctuates sharply, agree a seasonal increase; otherwise you are underinsured in precisely your busiest weeks.
Is cash included?
No. Money and negotiable paper are excluded on business contents insurance. There is separate money insurance for that, which also covers transport to the bank.
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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