Continuity · claims · staff · transport
Business insurance: where to start
Insuring a business does not start with a list of products, but with the question of which event would bring your business to a halt and which bill you could not meet in one go.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Zakelijke verzekeringen: waar u begint.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Go through your business in four steps. The first is continuity: what happens if the premises are unusable for a week. Fire or water damage hits your building and business contents, but the largest item is usually the turnover you lose during the repair period. That is what business interruption insuranceis for, and there the indemnity period you choose matters more than the sum insured.
The second step is claims from others. If you damage something belonging to a client or someone is injured, that is a matter for the public and employers' liability insurance. Where it is purely about money a client loses through a mistake in your advice, design or calculation, that is pure financial loss and belongs with professional indemnity insurance. Directors of a legal entity also run a personal risk in a private capacity.
Step three is staff. During sickness the obligation to continue paying wages runs on, for which there is sickness absence insurance , and for an accident at work your duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Codeapplies. Step four is transport: every vehicle registered to the business falls under the insurance obligation in Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM), and as soon as staff take to the road for work, employers' liability is added. See business car insurance, fleet insurance and the overview by sector.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare car insurance.
Where policies join up or leave a gap
Four places where we most often find something when we carry out a review.
Between liability and your own work
No liability policy pays the cost of redoing your own work. If you install the wrong system, you bear the replacement yourself; only the damage the defect causes at the client's premises can be covered. Take that into account in your pricing and in the warranty clauses of your terms and conditions.
Between building, contents and tenant's improvements
If you rent premises, the owner insures the structure. Everything you have installed yourself, such as a kitchenette, partition walls or floor coverings, is tenant's improvements and falls under your own policy. Do not forget tenant's liability either: fire or water damage to the rented premises is a separate section and is not included as standard.
Between data and liability
The cost of recovery after a hack, ransom, business interruption through encrypted systems and liability towards clients whose data has been leaked all fall outside ordinary policies. There is a cyber insurance. Administrative fines from a regulator falls outside that cover as well.
What is excluded on every business policy
Work outside the business activity described on the policy schedule is not insured. The same applies to loss caused intent or recklessness under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code, to fines and penalty payments, and to liability accepted by contract that goes further than what the law imposes on you. Report a claim in good time; Article 7:941 DCC requires it.
What does your premium depend on?
- Described business activities — the described activity determines the rate and acceptance
- Annual turnover — the usual basis for liability cover
- Payroll and workforce — including agency workers and hired-in staff
- Value of building, contents and stock — determines the sums insured for fire and burglary
- Size of the fleet — from a handful of vehicles onwards a single fleet policy becomes worthwhile
- Prevention measures taken — security, firefighting equipment and recorded work instructions
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
What is covered
| Situation | Liability | Property damage and business interruption |
|---|---|---|
| A customer trips in your showroom and breaks a wrist | Yes | No |
| Fire puts the production hall and the machines out of action | No | Yes |
| A burglary at the warehouse in which part of the stock disappears | No | Yes |
| Eight weeks of lost turnover while the hall is rebuilt | No | Provided that |
| Your employee sprains an ankle on an untidy shop floor | Yes | No |
| Your employee is injured in an accident on the way to a client | No | No |
These two columns catch most of it, but not everything: staff on the road and digital risks call for a policy of their own.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
In what order should I insure my business?
Start with the risks that could end your business: liability for injury and standstill after a fire. Then come assets, staff and transport, and finally the covers that mainly offer convenience, such as legal expenses and glass cover. That order stops you spending premium on small risks while a large risk stays uninsured.
Can everything go into one package?
Often yes. A package gives you one renewal date, one point of contact and usually a discount. The other side is that you tie yourself to the claims approach of one company. For unusual risks, such as work in petrochemicals or a large trading stock, a separate policy with a specialist insurer is sometimes wiser.
There are two of us. Is this not too much for us?
The size of the business makes little difference to the nature of the risks. A two-person business can be liable for injury too, and loses turnover if the premises become unusable. What does change is the scale: the sums insured and the premium follow turnover and payroll, so the cover stays in proportion.
What happens if my business changes?
Report new activities, staff, a second site or a change of legal form. The policy is based on the details in the application, and differences are assessed after a loss under Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code. Reporting mid-term costs an adjustment to the premium; an unreported change can cost you the payment.