Clean-up at the insured location
- Soil investigation and reporting
- Excavation, removal and backfilling
- Cleaning up groundwater
- Reinstatement of paving and garden
Environmental damage insurance for property
As the owner of property you pay for cleaning up contaminated soil, even where a tenant or a third party caused the contamination. Environmental damage insurance covers those costs. Your liability insurance does not.
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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.
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- 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.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
With property, environmental damage rarely arises from your own actions. A garage business lets oil soak into the floor, a central heating installation leaks, a fire sends firefighting water and soot into the ground, or a tenant stores substances where that is not allowed. The bill for investigation and clean-up then lands with the owner of the plot, because the soil legislation addresses whoever has control over the location. That is a cost that can exceed the value of the building.
Environmental damage insurance covers those costs as damage to your own property. That distinction is essential, because the liability insurance on your building covers only third-party injury and property damage and expressly excludes environmental damage, apart at most from narrow cover for sudden contamination at other parties. Nor does Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code, the liability of the possessor of a structure, help you: that article is what makes you liable, it insures nothing.
The policy works per location. Each address is assessed separately on use, storage, tanks and underground pipework. If the use changes — an office becomes a workshop, a warehouse becomes storage for hazardous substances — that has to be reported. See also environmental damage in property and the version for VvEs.
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What does environmental damage insurance cover for property?
The cover follows the place of the contamination: on your plot, on someone else's, and the costs that follow afterwards.
Contamination at third parties
Costs where the contamination moves to a neighbouring plot, ditch or sewer.
- Clean-up on someone else's land
- Costs recovered by the authorities
- Defence against claims from neighbours
- Including movement through groundwater
Additional items
The bills that remain after the clean-up itself.
- Clearance after fire and firefighting water
- Costs of mitigating the loss
- Loss of rent only if included
- Loss of value stays excluded
What is covered
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| A burst oil pipe in the boiler room | Yes | Yes |
| Soil contamination from firefighting water after a fire | Yes | Yes |
| Years of leaking beneath a tenant's workshop floor | No | Provided that |
| Contamination flowing to the adjoining plot | Provided that | Yes |
| Contamination that was already present at purchase | No | No |
| Removal of asbestos from the roof | No | No |
For each address, the use stated, the storage present and the form of cover chosen determine what is actually insured. The policy conditions and the policy schedule govern.
What does your premium depend on?
- Use per address: office or workshop makes a big difference
- Size of the portfolio: number and spread of buildings
- Tanks, pipes and storage: underground increases the risk
- Type of cover: sudden only, or gradual as well
- Tenants as co-insureds: recovery lapses, premium rises
- Sum insured and excess: limit per location or per year
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
- You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, risk 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.
Why 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.
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9.8Claims handling
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.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that determine whether a clean-up claim succeeds in property.
Sudden or gradual decides the outcome
Basic cover pays in the case of a a sudden and unforeseen event: a burst pipe, a collision, a fire. Contamination that has built up slowly (a porous floor, a dripping connection, an old tank) falls outside it and calls for extended cover. With let property that is the rule rather than the exception: gradual contamination usually only surfaces during refurbishment, on sale or at a compulsory soil survey.
Tenants are not automatically included
If only the owner appears on the policy, the tenant is not an insured. If that tenant causes contamination, the insurer does pay for the clean-up, but can then recover the costs from the tenant. So set out in the lease what may be stored, require tenants to maintain environmental cover of their own, or name them expressly as co-insured. If you do the latter, the right of recovery disappears and that has consequences for the premium.
What is not included
The following, among others, are outside the cover: existing or known contamination from before the start date, asbestos and its removal, damage caused by ignoring permit conditions or an enforcement notice from the authorities, fines and penalty payments, contamination from nuclear reactions, and loss of value of land or building after a properly completed clean-up. Intent and recklessness on the part of the insured are excluded under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Deferred maintenance of tanks and pipework also regularly leads to a claim being declined.
Notify in good time and keep the file complete
What you state at inception about use, tenants, tanks and earlier incidents falls under the duty of disclosure in Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code. If that picture turns out to be wrong, the insurer can reduce or refuse payment under Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code. If you discover contamination, report it as soon as reasonably possible (Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code) and let the insurer take part in deciding on the remediation plan; having digging done without consultation almost always costs you part of the settlement.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Does my buildings insurance not cover the clean-up?
No. Buildings insurance pays for damage to the building, not for the soil beneath it. Clearance costs under that policy relate to rubble and remains of the building, not to contaminated soil or groundwater. A separate environmental damage insurance is needed for a clean-up, even where the contamination is a direct result of an insured fire.
Who pays if the tenant caused the pollution?
Your insurer pays for the clean-up and then tries to recover the costs from the tenant or the tenant's insurer. If that fails, the loss stays with your policy. If the tenant is included as a co-insured, that recovery is lost. Set out in the lease which substances are permitted and what cover the tenant maintains.
What is a baseline survey and do I need one?
It is a soil survey that records how clean the ground is at the moment the policy starts or the building is bought. Without that measurement it is barely possible, at a later discovery, to prove that the contamination dates from after the start date. Where use carries a high risk, insurers often ask for one themselves.
Is asbestos included?
Asbestos is excluded under virtually all environmental damage policies, both the removal of asbestos-containing materials and the clean-up of asbestos-contaminated soil. Separate legislation and a certification system of its own apply to asbestos removal. A clean-up after a fire in which asbestos was released is sometimes paid for on a limited basis. That varies widely between insurers.
Does the policy also apply to a building that stands empty?
You must report vacancy. Insurers assess empty buildings differently, because there is no supervision and the risk of vandalism, arson and illegal storage rises. Cover usually remains possible, sometimes with a higher excess or a narrower cover. Concealing vacancy goes straight to the duty of disclosure.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare environmental damage insuranceThe main page
- Environmental damage insurance for real estateClean-up, your own site, third-party site
- Environmental damage in propertyHistorical contamination, tenants, baseline survey
- Environmental damage insurance for real estate: cover per locationHistorical contamination, tenants, baseline survey
- Environmental damage: soil contamination and clean-up costsSoil, firefighting water, clean-up
- Environmental damage insurance for a VvE (Dutch owners' association) through Avéro Achmea
- VvE environmental damage insuranceFirefighting water, oil tank, clean-up costs
- Buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) for property ownersTrade description, index, loss of rent
- Financing property through a bvProperty BV, whose name it is in, portfolio
Read more
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About our service
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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This page was compiled by Finass Verzekert (LinkedIn). Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.