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 situation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
A garage unit on a plot other than your home does not fall under your home insurance. It is insured separately on the rebuild value of the structure itself: walls, roof, floor and the up-and-over door. If the unit is in a block with an owners' association, the building is usually already on the VvE policy and you only insure your own share or your owner's interest.
What determines the premium and acceptance is the use. Keeping a car or caravan is something other than storing business stock, and letting to a third party is a category of its own again. Charging batteries, from an electric car to a mobility scooter or e-bike, is also a question insurers now ask explicitly.
The unit is, moreover, almost always among other units. Fire in a block of garage units spreads quickly through thin dividing walls, and you can be the liable party if it started with you. As the possessor of a defective structure, Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code affects you even if nothing was happening in the unit.
What does buildings insurance for a garage unit cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Most chosen
Extended cover
The named perils: fire, storm, water, burglary and collision.
Fire, smoke and lightning strike
Storm from force 7 upwards
Water damage and leakage
Burglary damage
Widest form of cover
Comprehensive
All sudden and unforeseen damage from outside, unless excluded.
Unnamed causes included
A small mishap while doing DIY
Less discussion when you claim
The essentials
Basis of value
Rebuild value with a guarantee against underinsurance, or a valuation.
Rebuild value calculator
Valuation under 7:960 DCC
Guarantee on your policy schedule
What is covered
Situation
Extended
Comprehensive
Fire, smoke and lightning damage
Yes
Yes
Storm damage from force 7 upwards
Yes
Yes
Water damage from a burst pipe
Yes
Yes
Burglary damage to doors and frames
Yes
Yes
Drilling through a pipe while doing DIY
No
Yes
Subsidence, pile rot and deferred maintenance
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.
Declare the actual use, not the intended use
The application often offers only a choice between parking and storage. If in practice you store trading stock, tools belonging to your business or material for third parties, that is business use and it belongs on the application. If it emerges after a fire that the unit was used differently from what was declared, the insurer can rely on Articles 7:928 and 7:930 DCC and reduce or refuse the payment.
What is inside the unit is never included
The buildings policy covers the structure and nothing else. The car falls under the own-damage cover on your car insurance, the caravan under a caravan policy, tools under contents or business contents insurance. Many owners only discover that after a burglary, when the buildings insurer pays only for the forced door. If the unit shades into a hobby room with equipment, have it recorded expressly which policy carries the cover for that.
Charging and flammable storage carry separate conditions
Charging batteries in a locked unit without supervision is restricted or subject to requirements with part of the market, such as a separate circuit, an earthed socket outlet or an inspection of the installation. The same applies to jerrycans of fuel, gas cylinders and stocks of paint. If you do not meet a prevention condition on your policy schedule, the fire cover lapses, even where the fire started elsewhere in the block.
The exclusions that arise most often with this object
Damp and rising damp damage to the floor, rust on the up-and-over door and damage from deferred maintenance to the roof covering are excluded. Those are gradual processes. Subsidence of the floor slab also falls outside cover, see foundation damage. If you let the unit without reporting it, discussion arises about both the cover and liability for what the tenant puts in it.
Part of a VvE?
If the unit is in a block with a VvE, the building is often already insured through the VvE. Check that before you insure it twice.
A guarantee against underinsurance is not automatic
If you fill in the insurer's rebuild value calculator correctly, you will usually receive a guarantee against underinsurance: in the event of a claim the actual amount is paid, even if the sum insured turns out to be too low. Your policy schedule states whether you have that guarantee. Without it, the proportionality rule applies, and that also affects small claims.
Rebuild value of the garage box. A single unit with an up-and-over door counts differently from a large unit with an upper floor or an attached store.
Construction type. Brick or concrete with a hard roof covering is assessed more favourably than timber or a corrugated sheet roof.
Stated use. Parking, private storage, business storage or letting each produce a different risk profile.
Position in a block or free-standing. Adjoining units carry the risk of fire spreading. A free-standing unit on a remote site carries more burglary risk.
Site security. An enclosed courtyard, lighting or camera surveillance counts in the underwriting.
Type of cover and excess chosen. For a simple structure, extended cover is chosen more often than all-risks. The excess drives the premium.
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.
Does my garage unit fall under the buildings insurance for my home?
Only if it stands on the same plot and has been declared as an outbuilding. A unit in a garage court further along the road or under a block of flats has its own address and its own risk, and you therefore insure it separately. If the unit is in a building divided into apartment rights, first check whether the owners' association already insures the building.
Is my car in the unit included?
No. The buildings insurance covers the structure, so the walls, the roof and the door. Damage to the car itself falls under the own-damage cover on your car insurance, including fire or burglary in the unit. If a classic car, classic motorcycle or caravan is kept there, check whether the storage location has been declared on that policy, because separate conditions are often attached to it.
May I let the garage unit?
You can, but it is a change of use and you report it. The insurer wants to know who you are letting to and what the unit is used for, because you no longer have a view of what is inside. Include in the tenancy agreement that storing flammable or business items is not permitted, and that the tenant insures their own belongings.
May I charge an electric car or e-bike in the unit?
That differs by insurer and is a question you ask in advance. Where it is permitted, requirements usually apply to the electrical installation: a separate circuit with residual current protection, a fixed charging point instead of an extension lead, and sometimes an inspection. If you charge in breach of a prevention condition on your policy schedule, the fire cover for the whole unit lapses.
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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