What you had installed · outside the buildings policy · declaring it
Tenant's improvements and business contents in property
As a tenant you insure three different things on three different bases: your business contents, your stock and whatever you had fixed to a building belonging to someone else.
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
The business contents insurance covers your loose business equipment, usually at replacement value as new. Your trading stock is paid on a different basis, namely cost price. And the tenant's improvements (floors, walls, kitchenette, lighting, cabling) belong to neither, because they are fixed to the building and therefore legally belong to the owner.
That is precisely where the trap lies. Your landlord's buildings policy was taken out on the premises as he handed them over to you, and your business contents insurance relates to movable property. Anyone who does not declare the fit-out separately discovers after a fire that two insurers are pointing at each other while the bill for the fit-out lands with you.
This is the tenant's side of the matter. If you are in fact the owner of the premises and want to know what happens to your tenant's fit-out, see tenant's improvements in property.
What do tenant's improvements and business contents cover in property?
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.
Business contents at replacement value as new, stock at cost price
Your machinery, furniture and equipment are usually replaced with new items. Your stock is not: it is paid for at what you paid for it, without the margin you would have made on it. That lost margin is business interruption and belongs in different cover. If you work with strong seasonal peaks, agree a stock clause, otherwise you are underinsured in your busiest weeks.
Tenant's improvements is the item nobody declares
Suspended ceiling, poured floor, partition walls, kitchen unit, data and distribution board, air conditioning: in business premises that comes to a substantial amount together. What you took over from the previous tenant counts too, because from the takeover it is your interest. Put the fit-out on a list with handover photographs when you take occupation and declare the total separately alongside your business contents and goods.
What is in your care is not yours and usually not covered
Customers' goods in for repair or storage, consignment stock and leased equipment are somebody else's property. On liability insurance, items in your care are excluded as standard; care, custody and control cover is needed for that. And on your goods policy they only appear if you have expressly declared them. Take stock of what belongs to third parties and is structurally at your premises.
After a fire, what counts is not only what is gone but how long you are shut
Your rent carries on, your staff stay employed and your customers do not wait. A business interruption insurance absorbs the lost gross profit during an agreed indemnity period. If you choose it too short, payment stops before you are running again. What falls outside is the loss of turnover that only arises after that period because customers have by then gone elsewhere.
What does your premium depend on?
Sum insured for business contents. The replacement value of your business equipment is the largest basis of calculation on this policy.
Nature and value of the stock. Flammable, perishable or theft-prone goods are assessed differently from bulk materials.
Extent of the tenant's improvements. The amount you had spent on fixed fit-out yourself is put on the policy schedule as a separate item.
Construction type of the premises let. The structure, roof covering and fire compartmentation of the building determine the fire risk to your property.
Security. Burglary resistance of the facade and doors, alarm response and camera surveillance weigh in acceptance.
Business interruption indemnity period. How long payment for the standstill continues is your own choice and feeds straight through into the premium.
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.
Everything you as a tenant had fixed to the premises let and which cannot be taken away without damage when you leave: floors, partition walls, ceilings, kitchen, bathroom fittings, fixed lighting, cabling and climate installations. Free-standing cupboards, computers and machinery are not tenant's improvements but business contents. The distinction determines on which policy and on which basis the loss is paid.
On what value is my stock paid?
At cost price, so what the goods cost you, including the costs of getting them in. The profit margin you would have made on them is not included. That runs through business interruption cover. For semi-finished goods, the cost price plus the processing costs up to the moment of the loss applies. Declare seasonal peaks in advance.
Is the fit-out I took over from the previous tenant included?
Only if you have declared it. Through the takeover it has become your tenant's improvements, even though you had nothing installed yourself and none of it appears in your own building file. Insurers pay for what is on the policy schedule. So add the fit-out you took over to your own alterations and declare the total.
Are customers' goods held at my premises covered?
Not automatically. Third-party property in your care falls outside both liability insurance and goods cover as standard. Care, custody and control cover is needed, or a separate declaration of third-party goods on your policy. Keep track of how much belonging to customers is with you on average and at most. That amount determines which solution fits.
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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