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
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.
What does environmental damage insurance cover for property?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The basics
Liability
AVB for property damage and injury, BAV for professional errors.
Damage to third parties
Employers' liability
Care, custody and control as an extension
Your business
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
If you employ people
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
