Liability
- Damage to third parties
- Employers' liability
- Care, custody and control as an extension
Soil · firefighting water · clean-up
Environmental damage: soil contamination and clean-up costs
A clean-up begins not with the policy but with a borehole sample: what is in the ground, since when has it been there, and is it yours.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Milieuschade: bodemverontreiniging en saneringskosten.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Environmental damage rarely arises from one clear moment. A tank that drips for years, a burst pipe beneath the floor, contaminated firefighting water running into the soil and the sewer after a fire, asbestos scattered across the neighbouring yard after a storm. The costs lie not in the event but in what follows: investigation, excavation, removal and processing, plus reinstating the paving, drainage and planting that had to be opened up for it.
Your ordinary policies are not written for that. Buildings insurance pays for damage to the building, not for the ground beneath it. Public and employers' liability insurance (AVB) contains an environmental exclusion. What remains is your own legal position. For a defective tank, floor or pipe you end up at Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code, and for loss at the neighbours at Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code plus the duty of care to prevent and clear up contamination.
If you want to know how the policy itself is structured, in sections and insured locations, read environmental damage insurance as a product. For buildings you let or manage there is environmental damage for property.
What does environmental damage insurance cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
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
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.
After a fire, firefighting water is the largest invisible item
In a fire, water carrying soot, firefighting foam and dissolved substances ends up in the soil, the sewer and sometimes the surface water. That water does not stop at your boundary. Where the buildings policy pays for the building, the ground beneath it and the plot next door are left behind. For businesses storing oil, chemicals, fertilisers or waste that is not a marginal case but the most likely scenario. asbestos spread after a fire also belongs in this category.
Historical contamination is excluded, so record the baseline situation
Contamination that was already there before your cover started falls outside the policy. That is awkward when a new patch mixes with an old one: the argument then turns on which part of the clean-up is yours. So have a soil survey carried out on purchase or at the start of the tenancy and keep that report. Without a baseline measurement you cannot prove the pollution is new, and you then bear the whole exercise yourself.
A leaking tank or pipe is a defective structure
Underground tanks, filling points, separators and pipework beneath the floor leak slowly and are only discovered at a measurement or a refurbishment. As owner you then bear the strict liability of Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code for a structure that does not meet what may be expected of it. Periodic inspection and registration of those installations are therefore often a condition of cover. Report any contamination discovered immediately as well: Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires notification as soon as reasonably possible.
A clean-up brings your business to a standstill, and that is a separate item
During an excavation the site is open for weeks: no deliveries, no storage, no accessible loading bay. That standstill is not an automatic part of the clean-up cover and has to be insured separately. Also outside the cover remain: administrative fines and penalty payments, any fall in the value of the plot after completion, and loss arising from deliberate action contrary to permit conditions. Intent remains uninsurable under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
- Nature and quantity of the substances stored — Oil, chemicals, fertilisers or waste determine what is released in a leak or a fire.
- Tanks, filling points and pipework — Presence, age and inspection status of underground installations and separators.
- Soil conditions and groundwater level — Sand carries contamination away quickly, clay holds it; a high water table increases the scale of a clean-up.
- Position of the site — Proximity to housing, surface water or a groundwater protection area makes the clean-up requirement stricter.
- History of the plot — Earlier business activity and the outcome of the baseline soil survey at inception.
- Sum insured and excess — The amount per event and per year, and the excess, which for clean-ups is usually higher.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
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.
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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.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
Does my buildings insurance cover the firefighting water in the soil?
No. Buildings insurance pays for damage to the building, not for cleaning the ground beneath it or the sewer. In a fire, cleaning up contaminated firefighting water can exceed the fire damage itself, certainly where oil, chemicals or asbestos are involved. Environmental damage insurance is needed for that.
What if the contamination was already there when I started?
Then it is excluded. Policies cover contamination that arises during the policy period, not what was historically already present. It becomes difficult when a new leak mixes with an old patch. A soil survey on purchase or at the start of the tenancy records the starting position and is your most important piece of evidence when a claim is made.
Is contamination on the neighbours' site covered as well?
Only if the section for third-party sites is included. Groundwater does not respect land registry boundaries, so a leak on your yard can be found further away. You are held to it under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, or as the owner of a defective structure under Article 6:174 DCC.
Am I obliged to have a soil survey carried out?
Insurers often ask for one before accepting where activities carry a high risk, and leases regularly require a baseline measurement. Even without that obligation it is sensible: without a recorded starting position you cannot show, when a claim is made, which part of the contamination arose during your use.
Read more
Similar pages
- Environmental damage insurance through Allianz
- Compare environmental damage insurance
- Environmental damage in property
- Environmental damage insurance
- Environmental liability for your own site through Chubb
- Environmental damage insurance through Avéro Achmea — compare & calculate your premium
- Environmental damage insurance for real estate
- Environmental damage insurance for real estate: cover per location
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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.
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This page was written and checked by an adviser at Finass Verzekert. Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.