Business interruption insurance for business services
At an accountancy, consultancy or law firm, the work is usually not lost after an incident but pushed back, and that pushing back is exactly what costs money and puts deadlines at risk.
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
A business services firm supplies hours and advice, not products. After fire or water damage the assignment still stands: the return still has to be filed, the deed still executed, the file still handled. Unlike a shop or a factory, your turnover is therefore often deferred rather than lost, and that changes the question of which cover you need.
What it does cost you is catching up: overtime, hiring interim capacity, hired workstations, replacement equipment and rebuilding files. Those are additional costs. For many firms additional costs insurance is therefore a more realistic answer than generous gross profit cover. Where office premises are mainly about accommodation, here it is about capacity and deadlines.
What remains is what cannot be caught up: new instructions that go to another firm during the standstill, and subscription or retainer clients who terminate. That part is genuine business interruption loss and belongs in the sum insured.
What does business interruption insurance for business services cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The basis
Gross profit
Turnover minus the variable costs that move with it.
Fixed costs continue
Profit margin you lose
Update annually
The term
Indemnity period
Calculate back from full turnover, not from the rebuild value.
Clearance and permits
Rebuilding and fitting out
Winning customers back
Additional costs
Alternative
The additional costs of not standing still.
Temporary location
Outsourcing to third parties
Often cheaper
What is covered
Situation
Business interruption
Additional costs
Downtime after a fire at your premises
Yes
Yes
Loss of turnover after water damage
Yes
Yes
Additional costs to keep going elsewhere
No
Yes
Failure of a supplier
Sometimes
Sometimes
Digital downtime without physical damage
No
No
Loss of turnover due to lower demand
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.
Deferred work is not lost turnover, but it is a cost
An accountancy office that is out of action for three weeks still processes the same entries afterwards. The annual turnover stays much the same. What changes is that you have to put in those hours with overtime or hired capacity. Business interruption insurance that settles on gross profit then pays little, because there is hardly any loss of turnover to show. So first assess which part of your turnover can be caught up and insure the rest in a targeted way.
Absolute deadlines are a liability risk, not business interruption loss
A missed objection deadline, annual accounts filed too late or a limitation period expiring while your files are out of reach produces a claim from your client. That claim is assessed under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and belongs on professional indemnity insurance (BAV). The business interruption policy pays nothing towards it. So record how you can reach your diary and deadline monitoring during an interruption, and not only your email.
Record-keeping duties and supervision run on during the standstill
The professional rules of your professional body and the statutory retention periods continue to apply, even if your archive is under water. Documents have to be reconstructed, client files restored and client account money kept separately accountable. Those reconstruction costs do not fall under the main cover; have the reconstruction costs section expressly included and check whether data lost digitally after covered material damage also falls under it.
What is not included
Excluded are claims and disciplinary proceedings about your advice, the termination of an assignment or framework contract, the loss of a licence or registration with your professional body, and absence of yourself or a partner through illness. A failure of internet, telephony or practice software without preceding material damage gives no right to payment either; that belongs with cyber insurance. Client account money is never an insured interest on this policy.
What does your premium depend on?
Share of turnover that can be caught up. The more work you can still carry out later, the lower the actual business interruption loss and the simpler the cover can be.
Balance between subscription and project turnover. Retainers often run on during a standstill; one-off instructions and new enquiries go straight to another firm.
Ongoing payroll. At service firms, the salaries of advisers and support staff make up virtually the whole fixed cost.
Size of the physical archive. Documents that exist only on paper raise the reconstruction costs and lengthen the period to normal output.
Fallback and homeworking arrangements. A firm with cloud workstations and external back-ups is at a standstill for less time than one with local systems.
Indemnity period chosen. A shorter period is usually enough than in capital-intensive sectors, provided the capacity to catch up is arranged.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
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.
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.
I can catch my work up later. Do I need this policy at all?
In part. For work you carry out later there is hardly any loss of turnover, and gross profit cover then pays little. What does hit you is the additional cost of hiring in, overtime and temporary accommodation, plus the new instructions that go to another firm during the standstill. A combination of limited business interruption cover and additional costs insurance fits that better.
We miss an absolute deadline because of the damage. Is that covered?
Not on this policy. A missed objection, filing or limitation deadline leads to a claim from your client, and that is assessed as professional negligence under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. Professional indemnity insurance (BAV) is intended for that. Business interruption insurance looks only at your own lost gross profit after covered material damage.
Are the costs of restoring files insured as well?
Only where the reconstruction costs section is on the policy. The main cover pays only for lost turnover, not for requesting and compiling again the documents you have to hold under professional rules or statutory retention periods. Have that section included and check whether digital files lost through the fire or water damage also fall under it.
What if a client terminates during the closure?
The loss of a client is not in itself an insured event. The loss of turnover does count as long as it falls within the indemnity period and follows directly from the covered damage. If the termination continues beyond the end of that period, the payment stops, even if the client never comes back. Choose the period accordingly.
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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