Construction all risks (CAR) and erection insurance through De Goudse
A CAR policy is not a single cover but a collection of sections. Which ones you include determines whether a loss on site is paid or merely discussed.
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In brief
Finass acts as an intermediary for the business range of De Goudse, a company often used for SMEs in construction, installation and maintenance. We are not tied to it and compare several insurers objectively. Construction all risks and erection insurance is built up from sections: the work, the liability on site, the client's existing property, the ancillary plant, the property of management and staff, and sometimes transport of building materials.
The works section pays for physical damage to the works in progress, whatever the cause, from storm and theft to a lift that goes wrong. That broad structure makes the policy valuable on renovation and refurbishment, where the existing situation and the new work physically run into each other. Without the existing property section, damage to the building you are working in is not covered, and on renovation work that is usually the most expensive item.
Alongside the CAR policy, the public and employers' liability insurance remains necessary for injury to third parties and for damage away from the site. That policy specifically excludes the work object itself. For advisory and design work you also supply, the professional indemnity insuranceapplies. Three policies, three defined areas. The mistake most often made is assuming that there is overlap.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare construction all risks (CAR) insurance.
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We compare your construction all risks (CAR) insurance across dozens of insurers, explain where the real differences lie, and arrange the switch from start to finish — without you having to chase it yourself.
Construction all risks (CAR) insurance
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Get coveredWhy arrange it through Finass Verzekert?
We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
Independent
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
One fixed adviser
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
What to look out for
Four provisions that set the scope of a project policy.
Design, structural and material faults
As standard, a CAR policy excludes damage resulting from a design fault, a structural fault or defective material. Extensions can cover the consequential damage to the rest of the works, but putting right the defective component itself remains outside the cover. If you take on both design and execution, this is the provision to have recorded first.
Construction period, maintenance period and handover
The cover runs from the delivery of materials to handover. If the works overruns, the construction period has to be extended; without notification the cover ends on the policy date. For the period afterwards you choose a short or an extended maintenance period: the first covers only damage you cause during remedial work, the second also damage that arose during construction and only comes to light later.
Theft, storm and precautions
Theft of building materials and storm are the most common losses on a site. Insurers attach conditions to that: store building materials under lock and key, properly cover and securethe works outside working hours, and fence off the site. A higher excess often applies to these events. Insufficient precaution is a routine ground for rejection.
What falls outside the policy
Not covered are loss due to delay and contractual penalties, normal wear and gradually acting influences such as corrosion or drying out, and intent or wilful recklessness (Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code). Environmental damage from soil or groundwater contamination also falls outside the CAR policy and calls for separate environmental damage insurance, as do warlike acts and nuclear reactions.
What does your premium depend on?
- Nature and size of the works: new build, renovation or installation work
- Contract sum: the basis on a single-project policy
- Sections included: existing property and ancillary plant weigh heavily
- Construction and maintenance period: longer periods increase the exposure
- Surroundings of the works: inner-city building next to adjoining properties counts
- Excess: usually separate for storm, water and theft
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| A storm blows the newly fitted roof boarding off the new build | Yes | Yes |
| Demolishing an internal wall cracks the ceiling of the existing house | No | Yes |
| Your own mini excavator tips over on the site and is damaged | No | Yes |
| Falling rubble damages a car parked alongside the site | No | Yes |
| A carpenter's tool box disappears from the site hut | No | Provided that |
| The works overruns by four weeks and the client applies the contractual reduction | No | No |
Every section you leave out is a part of the site that stays uninsured.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
What is the difference between CAR and erection insurance?
They are variants of the same structure. The CAR variant focuses on building works and the erection variant on the assembly and connection of installations and machinery, with attention to testing and commissioning. Many policies combine both in one product. What matters is not the name but the description of the insured works on the policy schedule.
We are building against an existing building. Is that building insured?
Only with the existing property section. It covers damage to the building and to the client's property caused by the work, such as cracks from vibration or water damage through an opened roof. Note the wording on subsidence and vibration. Some policies limit it to damage for which you are liable.
Should the client or the contractor take out the policy?
That follows from the contract. In many building contracts the contractor carries the risk for the works until handover and also takes out the insurance. If the client takes out the policy, have yourself included as an insured and ask for a waiver of recovery, otherwise the insurer can still recover the loss from you after paying the client.
What about work we have carried out badly ourselves?
Redoing your own defective work is not an insured loss. That is performance of your contract. If that defect damages the rest of the works, the consequential damage can be covered, depending on the extension chosen for design and structural risk. Record work instructions, inspections and handover reports; in a dispute they establish the facts.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare construction all risks (CAR) insuranceThe main page
- Construction all risks (CAR) insurance for construction and erection workThe works in progress, sections, maintenance period
- Construction and erection insurance for self-employed professionals (zzp'ers)Erection risk, testing, maintenance period
- Construction all risks (CAR) insurance for self-employed professionals (zzp'ers) working in existing buildingsExisting property, testing, contract sum
- Construction all risks (CAR) insurance for the construction sectorAll construction risks, sections 1 and 2, maintenance period
- Construction and erection insuranceContinuous or single-project, erection, test phase
- Temporary construction all risks (CAR) insuranceOne project, term, extension