In a shop it is not the fittings but the trading stock that moves up and down through the year, and it is that movement that determines whether you are paid in full when a loss occurs.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
The shop fittings are business contents: shelving, counters, till system, fitting rooms, refrigeration, lighting and window display materials. The trading stock is the goods item. Both appear on the policy with their own amount and are paid on a different basis. Business contents usually at replacement value as new, the stock at cost price: the price you paid your supplier, not the price on the ticket.
The difference from a practice or workshop is that your insured interest is not stable. Before the holidays, at the start of a season or with a bulk purchase, stock can be a multiple of what is there in a quiet month. If the sum insured is set at the average, there is underinsurance at the peak and every claim, even a small one, is settled proportionately.
Never more than the actual loss is paid (Article 7:960 of the Dutch Civil Code); profit margin and lost turnover are therefore not included. Standard exclusions are theft without signs of forced entry, money and negotiable paper, glass damage without separate cover, and customers' goods with you for repair. For the turnover that stops, business interruption insurance is the appropriate addition.
What does business contents insurance cover for shops?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Your business assets
Business contents
Machinery, equipment, furniture and fixed fittings.
At replacement value as new
Fire, water and burglary
Tenant's improvements separately
Stock
Goods
Trading stock, raw materials and finished products.
Purchase value or cost price
Declare seasonal peaks
Spoilage as an extension
Optional
Extensions
What is excluded as standard.
Third-party property
Money and securities
Business interruption
What is covered
Situation
Business contents
Goods
Fire and smoke damage
Yes
Yes
Burglary with signs of forced entry
Yes
Yes
Water damage from a burst pipe
Yes
Yes
Customers' property being worked on
No
No
Spoilage due to refrigeration failure
Sometimes
Sometimes
Wear and deferred maintenance
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.
Insure at the peak, not at the average
With underinsurance, payment is proportionate: if the actual stock value is double the sum insured, you receive about half of every claim, even one well below the sum insured. A shop runs into this in precisely the weeks when the most stock is there. So agree a stock clause that raises the amounts in the known peak months, or report a large purchase in writing in advance.
No signs of forced entry, no theft cover
Shoplifting during opening hours is not insured. The cover relates to burglary, and insurers require demonstrable signs of forced entry to a door, frontage or roller shutter. Embezzlement by staff also falls outside. There is separate fraud or money insurance for that. What you can influence are the acceptance conditions: roller shutter, laminated glass, an alarm with a monitoring centre connection and not leaving sought-after items visible after closing time.
Window, frontage and till run separately
The pane of your shop window is glass and that usually does not fall under business contents cover but under separate glass insurance. In rented premises there is also the question of whether the owner has already included the glass. Cash in the till or safe is likewise excluded and calls for its own section with a limit. The shop fittings you had installed yourself in rented premises you declare as tenant's improvements.
What is not included
Outside the cover remain: customers' items with you for repair or on order, goods in transit to a customer without separate transport cover, and gradual loss of value such as going out of fashion, discolouring or passing their date. Damage during building work is also often limited. Report building work in advance; unreported construction activity is a recurring reason for a reduced payment.
What does your premium depend on?
Sum insured for stock at peak level. Not the annual average but the highest level determines whether you are paid in full when a loss occurs.
Nature of the product range. Phones, computers, jewellery and branded clothing are placed in a higher risk class than, say, furniture or books.
Shop premises and location. A corner unit on a busy street, premises with flats above or a unit in a covered centre each weigh differently.
Burglary protection. Roller shutter, laminated glass, an alarm with a monitoring centre connection and camera surveillance are often both a condition of acceptance and a premium factor.
Tenant's improvements and glass. Shop fittings you installed yourself and whether the shop window is insured by you or by the building owner.
Excess and extensions chosen. A higher excess pushes the premium down; sections for money, third-party property and spoilage push it up.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your 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.
My stock is much larger in high season. How do I arrange that?
Do not insure on the annual average. Agree a stock clause with the insurer that raises the sum insured in the known peak months, or report a large purchase in writing in advance. If you do not, underinsurance applies in those weeks and every claim, even a small one, is settled proportionately. In shops that is the most common and most expensive misunderstanding.
Is shoplifting insured?
No. Goods cover relates to burglary outside opening hours, with demonstrable signs of forced entry. What disappears from the shelves during opening hours is a business risk and falls outside every standard policy. Embezzlement by your own staff is also excluded. There are separate fraud policies for that. You limit shrinkage with camera surveillance, article tagging and watertight stock records, not with this insurance.
Does my shop window fall under the business contents insurance?
Usually not. Glass is normally its own section or separate glass insurance. If you rent the premises, first check whether the owner has already included the glass in the buildings insurance; insuring twice is pointless, because no more than the actual loss is ever paid. Damage to the goods in the window from the broken pane does fall under the goods cover.
Will I be paid the selling price for my stock?
No. Goods are paid at cost price, possibly increased by the costs you had already incurred to get them into the shop. The margin you had intended to make on them falls outside. That follows from the rule that insurance may not produce a profit. If you want to absorb the turnover lost after a fire, business interruption insurance is intended for that.
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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