Business contents
- Machinery and tools
- Furniture and equipment
- Usually at replacement value as new
- Market value where age has taken its toll
Insuring business contents, goods and tenant's improvements
In rented business premises, three interests run into each other: your business contents, your stock and the alterations you paid for yourself. Each of them is insured on a different basis.
- several insurers compared objectively
- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
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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
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
Business contents is everything you use to work with that is not fixed to the building: machinery, tools, furniture, computers, racking and equipment. Goods are the items you sell or process: raw materials, semi-finished goods, trading stock and packaging. Tenant's improvements is the third category: the structural installations you as a tenant had put into the premises at your own expense and which you cannot simply take with you when you leave.
The distinction is not a bookkeeping matter but determines which policy you turn to. The building belongs to the owner and sits on his buildings insurance. What you had installed yourself — partition walls, a suspended ceiling, floor finishes, a kitchenette, extra electrical circuits, air handling: has often legally become part of the building, but economically it is yours. Without a separate tenant's improvements item, it falls between two stools.
Business contents and goods are paid on different bases. Business contents usually at replacement value as new, falling back to market value for older or written-down items. Goods are paid at cost price or replacement value, not at the selling price. The profit margin belongs in a business interruption cover. See also business contents and tenant's improvements in property.
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Which interests do you insure?
Three items on one policy, each with its own sum insured and its own basis of valuation.
Goods
Raw materials, trading stock and packaging on the premises.
- Payment at cost price
- Profit margin falls outside
- Watch seasonal peaks
- Spoilage calls for separate cover
Tenant's improvements
The structural alterations you funded yourself.
- Walls, ceilings and floors
- Kitchenette and bathroom fittings
- Extra electrics and installations
- Not on the owner's policy
What is covered
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| Fire damage to machinery and furniture | Yes | Yes |
| Theft of stock after forced entry | Provided that | Yes |
| Water damage from a burst pipe | Provided that | Yes |
| Partition walls you installed | Provided that | Yes |
| Loss of turnover during the standstill | No | Provided that |
| Wear and deferred maintenance | No | No |
Which perils are covered and which exclusions, limits and excesses apply is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart).
What does your premium depend on?
- Business activity and operations: what goes on in the premises
- Sums insured: business contents, goods, tenant's improvements
- Construction type of the building: brick, steel or combustible panels
- Security: locks, an alarm and a monitoring centre
- Susceptibility to theft: nature of the stock
- Excess: different for each section
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
- You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, risk 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.
Why arrange it through Finass Verzekert?
We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
Independent
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
One fixed adviser
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
9.5New policy
9.8Claims handling
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.
Where things go wrong
Four points that determine whether the damage to your business assets is paid in full.
The declared trade must match what you actually do
The insurer accepts on the basis of your activity and the space in which you carry it out. If you insure as an office while there is in fact a workshop, welding takes place or batteries are charged, the fire risk has been assessed on the wrong footing. Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to provide that information, and if you conceal it the insurer can reduce or refuse payment under Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code. Also report a move to other premises, because the security requirements change with it.
Tenant's improvements are consistently forgotten
Many tenants dutifully insure their machinery and stock, but not the tens of thousands of euros they have put into the premises. That investment does not fall under the owner's buildings insurance nor under the business contents item. After the fit-out is completed, go through the invoices for the work and put the total on the policy as a separate sum. Also check what the lease says: it is sometimes stipulated that the owner insures certain installations.
What is not covered
Excluded from cover are, among other things business downtime without separate business interruption cover, damage caused by wear, ageing and deferred maintenance, and defects arising from construction or design faults. Damage caused by intent or recklessness on the part of the insured is excluded under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Also outside the cover: money and negotiable paper without a separate section, third-party property in your care that has not been declared, and damage connected with use that differs from the declared trade.
Underinsurance creeps up on you
The sums for business contents and goods are set at inception and rarely updated afterwards, while machinery is added and stock grows. If the actual value at the time of a loss is higher than the sum insured, payment is made proportionately, even for a small claim. Update the sums annually against your balance sheet and take account of seasonal peaks in stock; insure the peak, not the annual average.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
What exactly counts as tenant's improvements?
The structural installations you as a tenant had put into or onto the premises at your own expense and which have become part of them. Think of partition walls, a suspended ceiling, floor finishes, a kitchenette, extra bathroom fittings, an adapted electrical installation or air handling. Free-standing cupboards and equipment belong to business contents, because you simply take those with you when you leave.
Does the owner not already insure my alterations?
Usually not. The owner's buildings policy covers the premises as he lets them, including his own installations. Your investment does not appear on it, unless that has been expressly agreed and included in the sum insured. Ask the landlord what is and is not on his policy and record the outcome in writing in the lease.
On what value are goods paid?
At cost price or replacement value, not at the selling price. The profit margin you would have made on the stock is not damage to property but lost profit and falls under business interruption. So insure both separately. For perishable goods in refrigeration, damage from failure of the refrigeration also calls for its own section.
Is theft without signs of forced entry covered?
Usually not. Insurers generally require traces of forced entry to the premises or to a locked space. Disappearance without signs of forced entry, theft by your own staff and embezzlement are often excluded or call for separate fraud cover. Also check the security clause: if the alarm was not working or was not set, the payment can be reduced.
What happens if the premises stand empty for a time?
If the premises stand empty or out of use, that is a change in risk that you must report. Insurers then often limit the cover to fire, storm and explosion and let theft and water damage cover lapse. The same applies if you suspend operations temporarily or move them to another location; report that situation in advance and not only when a loss occurs.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare business contents insuranceThe main page
- Business contents and goods insurance for a butcher's shopRefrigeration, spoilage, tenant's improvements
- Business contents and tenant's improvements in let propertyOwner's interest, tenant's improvements, business contents
- Tenant's improvements and business contents in propertyWhat you had installed, outside the buildings policy, declaring it
- Commercial business contents insuranceBusiness assets, goods, extensions
- Tenant's improvements, business contents and goods in rented premisesAccession, right of removal, alterations
- Tenant's improvements insurance for rented business premisesShell fit-out, ROZ lease, right of removal
- Business contents insurance for shopsShop fittings, stock, season
Read more
Would you like the sums checked?
Request a quotation without obligation. We establish the business contents, goods and tenant's improvements items with you.
Prefer to call? 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 09:00–17:00.
Claim on the road? Emergency line 06 - 55 20 40 72.
About our service
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.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
This page was compiled by Finass Verzekert (LinkedIn). Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.