Programme structure · seams between policies · foreign establishments
Business insurance for companies through Chubb
A business rarely suffers a loss under one policy. The problems arise at the seams: between liability and professional error, between property damage and environmental damage, between fire and cyber.
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- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Zakelijke verzekeringen voor bedrijven via Chubb.
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
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Finass Advies acts as an independent broker and compares the offerings of several insurers. Chubb is one of the insurers we use, among other things for businesses with international activities, engineering risks or a size at which standard products are no longer sufficient. Which insurer it becomes follows from the cover you need, your claims history and the conditions. What a policy actually covers is set out in the policy conditions; you receive that before you sign.
The biggest risks in a business programme rarely sit within one policy, but between two policies. Three examples. A mistake in advice you have given is pure financial loss and falls outside the public and employers' liability insurance, but within the professional indemnity insurance. A business shutdown caused by a ransomware attack is not physical damage and therefore falls outside classic business interruption insurance. And clean-up costs after a leak are not property damage and belong on an environmental insurance policy.
On top of that, policies do not all work the same way. An AVB covers events occurring during the term, whereas a professional indemnity, directors' and officers' liability or environmental policy is written on a claims-made basis and looks at the moment the claim is notified. If you change insurer, a gap arises precisely there, unless prior acts and run-off cover are arranged. The sums insured also differ: one limit applies per claim, another per insurance year for everything together.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare personal liability insurance (AVP).
What to look out for
Four subjects that go wrong more often in a business programme than the premium.
Directors' liability is separate
A director can be held personally liable under Article 2:9 of the Dutch Civil Code by the company itself, and on the insolvency of a BV under Article 2:248 of the Dutch Civil Code for manifestly improper management. Those claims reach private assets and fall outside every business policy. For that there is a directors' and officers' liability insurance.
Contractual undertakings that go beyond the law
What is normally insured is your third-party liability under, among others, Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code. If you include a warranty, penalty clause or indemnity in a contract that goes further, that part is not insured. So have the purchasing conditions of large clients reviewed before you sign. It is one of the few risks you create yourself with a signature.
Foreign establishments and local policies
A Dutch policy does not automatically cover a subsidiary abroad, and in many countries a local policy is required by law. Working with a master policy and local policies calls for the geographical scope, the sums insured and the question of who submits the claim to be aligned. Without that, the cover is wider on paper than in practice.
What is excluded on every business policy
Recurring exclusions are intent and wilful recklessness (Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code), administrative fines and penalty payments, redoing the work you performed, and everything falling under a sanctions clause. Terrorism is only covered within the market-wide protocol, and traditional policies now almost always carry a cyber exclusion.
What does your premium depend on?
- Turnover and payroll: the two usual bases for business cover
- Activities and sector: decisive for which sections are needed
- Exports and foreign establishments: the United States and Canada are rated separately
- Claims history: the number and nature of earlier claims
- Sums insured: per claim and per insurance year
- Excess per section: a higher excess brings the premium down noticeably
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV |
|---|---|---|
| Your engineer drops a toolbox onto the customer's car | Yes | No |
| A visitor trips over a cable in your warehouse and breaks a wrist | Yes | No |
| An employee is injured while unloading a pallet | Yes | No |
| Your advice leads to an investment that only costs the client money | No | Yes |
| A miscalculation in your estimate costs the client a grant that had been promised | No | Yes |
| Damage to the customer's machine that you were repairing at the time | Provided that | No |
These two policies do not cover each other's gaps: where one stops at financial loss, the other stops at physical damage.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Why can I not put everything on one policy?
Because the principles of cover differ. Liability for injury and property damage works on the basis of the event, professional errors and directors' claims on the basis of when they are notified, and physical damage on the basis of the value of the interest. Insurers do offer packages in which those policies run alongside each other with one contract date, but the sections remain independent.
What happens to old claims when I switch?
With policies operating on a notification basis, the insurer you notify is the one involved, even if the mistake was made years earlier. So make sure the new policy provides prior acts cover from the old retroactive date, or buy run-off cover on the old policy. Without one of the two, the period between the policies falls outside all cover, and that cannot be put right afterwards.
Do changes in my business have to be disclosed?
Yes. New activities, an acquisition, an extra site, exports to another continent or strong growth in turnover change the risk. The policy conditions require you to disclose that, and when you apply the duty of disclosure of Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code applies. If it turns out afterwards that the insurer would have set different conditions had it had correct information, it may reduce the payout under Article 7:930 DCC.
What should I do as soon as someone holds me liable?
Report it to the insurer and do not admit liability. Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to notify in good time and to provide all information. An admission can harm your position and the insurer's. Also forward all correspondence and observe any deadlines set by the other party, so that no default judgment or limitation arises.