Liability
- Damage to third parties
- Employers' liability
- Care, custody and control as an extension
Environmental damage insurance for real estate: cover per location
Environmental damage insurance is not a liability policy: it pays for the clean-up of your own site, whether or not anyone holds you liable.
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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.
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.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
That difference is the core of this product. A liability insurance only comes into action if a third party suffers loss and you are liable for it, and it largely excludes environmental damage as well. Environmental damage insurance is a first-party policy: the cost of cleaning the insured location is itself the insured interest.
The second feature follows from that: cover attaches to an address, not to an activity. The policy schedule names each location in full. If you buy another building, it has to be notified before anything happens. A location that has not been notified simply does not appear on it and is therefore not insured.
For the question of who is legally required to clean up, and why you as owner receive the notice, we refer you to environmental damage in property.
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What does environmental damage insurance cover for property?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Assets and continuity
Business contents, goods and lost turnover during downtime.
- Business contents at replacement value as new
- Goods at cost price
- Business interruption or additional costs
Staff
Sickness absence, accidents and the traffic risk.
- Continued pay for 104 weeks
- Group personal accident
- WEGAS for traffic risks
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | BAV | Cyber |
|---|---|---|---|
| Injury to a visitor or customer | Yes | No | No |
| Damage to a client's property | Sometimes | No | No |
| Financial loss caused by an advisory or calculation error | No | Yes | No |
| Downtime after a ransomware attack | No | No | Yes |
| Data breach involving personal data | No | Sometimes | Yes |
| Damage to property in your care | No | 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.
What does your premium depend on?
- Number and nature of the locations. Each address on the policy schedule is assessed separately on use, area and surroundings.
- Type of cover chosen. Sudden and unforeseen contamination only, or gradual build-up as well, makes a considerable difference to the premium.
- Sum insured per location. The limit per event and per insurance year is the main basis on which this product is priced.
- Excess. Clean-ups carry a substantial excess. The level chosen feeds through strongly into the premium.
- Retroactive and run-off cover. Including earlier or later discovery widens the cover and is charged separately.
- Outcome of the soil investigation. A clean baseline report makes acceptance simpler; known contamination is excluded or assessed separately.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
- You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your 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.
9.5New policy
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 make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Cover attaches to the address on the policy schedule
Each insured location is listed separately, with its own sum insured. Expanding the portfolio therefore calls for a notification and usually an underwriting decision. Some policies also provide cover at third-party sites, for example where you have work carried out, but that is a separate section. Notify demolition and refurbishment work in advance, because it changes the risk profile of the location fundamentally.
Sudden and unforeseen against gradual
The usual form of cover pays for contamination resulting from a sudden, unforeseen event: a burst pipe, an overturned drum, a fire with firefighting water. Contamination built up over years by a slowly leaking tank or a continuing emission often falls outside it. Wider versions exist that include gradual contamination. Check which version you are buying; that is the biggest difference between providers.
Investigation, clean-up and reinstatement are three items
Usually insured are the soil investigation, the excavation and removal of contaminated soil, and the reinstatement of whatever had to give way for it: paving, planting, foundations. Outside the cover remain any fall in the value of the plot, administrative fines and penalty payments, and the extra cost if you take the opportunity to rebuild to a better standard than before. So budget for those items separately.
Prior and extended cover determine the reference date
Soil contamination almost always arises earlier than it is discovered. Without prior-acts cover, the moment it arose is decisive and a discovery from an earlier period falls outside the policy. On termination the reverse question arises: is contamination discovered later still covered. Circumstances you already knew of when taking out the policy must be disclosed under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Is this different from the environmental cover on my liability insurance?
Yes, fundamentally. A liability policy pays only if a third party suffers loss and you are liable for it, and it largely excludes environmental damage. This policy pays the clean-up costs for your own site without there having to be an injured third party. In reality they complement each other and neither covers what the other does.
I am buying another building. Is it automatically included?
No. Cover is arranged per address and every new location has to be notified and accepted. Some policies provide brief provisional cover for new acquisitions, but conditions and time limits apply. So report a purchase when the deed is executed, together with the available soil survey.
Is the fall in the value of my land paid for?
No. What is insured are the costs of investigation, clean-up and reinstating whatever had to give way for it. If the plot is worth less after a successful clean-up because it carries a history, that is not an insured item of loss. Administrative fines and penalty payments fall outside it too, as do improvements on the previous situation.
What exactly does prior-acts cover mean here?
It means that contamination which arose before the start date, but is only discovered afterwards, still falls under the policy back to an agreed date. Without that extension, the moment it arose counts and an old pollution falls outside. What you already knew when taking out the policy stays excluded in any event, because of the duty of disclosure.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Compare environmental damage insuranceThe main page
- Environmental damage insuranceSoil, firefighting water, clean-up
- Environmental damage in propertyHistorical 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
- Environmental damage insurance for propertyClean-up costs, tenants, baseline situation
- Environmental damage insurance for real estateClean-up, your own site, third-party site
- Tenant's improvements and business contents in propertyWhat you had installed, outside the buildings policy, declaring it
- Liability in property and real estateNot compulsory, still needed, Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code
Read more
Ready to compare?
Request a quote without obligation. We will look at which insurer best matches your activities and your risk.
Prefer to call? 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 09:00–17:00.
Claim on the road? Emergency line 06 - 55 20 40 72.
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.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
This page was compiled by Finass Verzekert. Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.