With commercial glass the first question is not which cover you choose, but who has to insure the glass under the lease: the owner of the premises or you as tenant.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
In many commercial leases glass is expressly allocated to the tenant, while business owners assume it sits on the landlord's buildings insurance. The reverse also occurs. Read that provision before you take out a policy: double insurance costs premium without extra cover, and a gap only comes to light when a pane is broken.
Covered are breakage of panes that serve to admit light: shop window, frontage, doors, domes, roof lights and sometimes internal glazing and mirrors. It concerns the pane itself plus the fitting of it. Damage without breakage, such as scratches, etching or graffiti, is not included; the contents or vandalism cover deals with that.
The largest cost item with a broken shop window is often not the glass but the hour afterwards: emergency repairs outside office hours, the boarding up and the fact that a boarded-up shop takes less money. If that adds up, it affects your business interruption cover. Check whether emergency replacement and boarding up are included in the glass policy.
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.
The lease prevails over your assumption
First establish who bears which glazed areas: owner, tenant or both with a division between external and internal glazing. If glass sits with you, you insure a tenant's improvements and not the building. If you get the bill from the landlord after a breakage while you insured nothing, no policy will absorb it. Record the agreement and review it when the lease is renewed.
Emergency boarding is a separate question
A shop window broken in the evening has to be closed up the same night. The cost of an emergency fitter, temporary panels and removing the glass can come close to the new pane. Some policies pay that as costs of mitigating the loss, others only with a separate module and a maximum. Ask as well whether a national service number is included; finding a glazier yourself outside office hours costs time you do not have.
Condensation between double glazing is not breakage
When the sealant of an insulating unit fails, moisture forms between the panes and the glass goes cloudy. Nothing is broken and the policy does not pay: that is a defect in the material and a matter for a warranty or the owner. The same applies to cracks caused by stress from poor installation and to thermal cracking where the conditions exclude it.
Lettering, film and conversion work are exclusions
Business names, solar control or safety film, sandblasted logos and alarm strips are rarely covered as standard; they also raise the replacement cost considerably. Declare them and have them included. Usually excluded are breakage during conversion work, installation or transport, glass in greenhouses and vending machines, and glass in premises that stand empty for longer than the conditions permit. Report vacancy promptly. That engages the duty of disclosure under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
Area and type of glass. The number of square metres and whether it is single, insulating, toughened or laminated glass.
Position of the glazing. A shop window at street level, a frontage on a through road or windows on upper floors.
Location of the building. Shopping street, nightlife area or a secured business park; vandalism weighs heaviest here.
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.
As a tenant, do I have to insure the glass myself?
That follows from your lease. In many commercial contracts glass is allocated to the tenant, but the opposite also occurs and sometimes a distinction is drawn between external and internal glazing. Read the provision before you take out a policy: without that check you pay twice or only discover the gap when a pane is broken.
Is a scratch or graffiti on the shop window covered?
No. Glass insurance covers breakage, not damage to the surface. Scratches, etching, etched tags and graffiti fall outside the cover, even where the pane has to be replaced as a result. For that damage you look to the contents or buildings cover with a vandalism section. Protective film can limit the cost, but you have to have it included separately.
Does the policy pay for boarding up outside office hours?
Only if emergency boarding is included or if the costs count as costs of mitigating the loss. That differs from policy to policy and a maximum often applies. Ask about it explicitly, because with a broken shop window the overnight boarding is a substantial part of the bill and the speed of the emergency replacement determines how much turnover you lose.
Will double glazing that has gone cloudy be replaced?
Not on glass insurance. Condensation between the panes arises because the edge seal fails. There is then no breakage and therefore no covered event. This is a defect in the material that runs through a warranty or through the owner of the premises. Cracks caused by incorrect installation or by stress in the glass are also excluded on most policies.
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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