Care, custody and control · work after completion · consequential loss
Insurance for the engineering sector
In engineering the most expensive loss is rarely the one you see happen: a joint tightened wrongly or a safety device set incorrectly only makes itself felt months after completion.
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 your own premium with the calculator.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
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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
Installation, electrical, refrigeration and mechanical engineering firms almost always work in or on someone else's property: a boiler house, a distribution board, a production line, a climate installation. For as long as you are working on it, you have that installation in your care, and that is excluded as standard on public and employers' liability insurance. For the engineering sector the care, custody and control module is therefore not an extension but the first question to be put on the table.
The second feature is the delay in time. An assembly error rarely causes damage straight away; the leak, the short circuit or the burnt-out motor comes later. Cover for work after completion deals with that. Note the distinction insurers make: repairing or replacing your own defective work is excluded, the consequential damage to the rest of the building or the installation is not.
The third point is fire and manufacture. Welding, soldering, burning and working with bitumen fall under a hot work clause, with its own obligations on site. And if you supply machines, panels or assemblies yourself, the product liability in Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code is also on the table, which applies even where you are not at fault at all.
What does insurance for the engineering sector cover?
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.
Care, custody and control determines whether the installation itself counts
If you dismantle a control cabinet, drain a system or hang a unit on an existing pipe network, you have that item in your custody. Without care, custody and control cover the liability policy will pay for the water damage to the ceiling below, but not for the installation you were working on. Match the sum insured to the most valuable item you go into, not to an average job.
Repair costs and consequential loss are different things
If a soldered joint turns out to leak after months, you pay for resoldering it yourself: putting your own defective performance right is excluded. The damage to the floor, the stock or the equipment below is covered, provided work after completion appears on the policy schedule. Check that module and its run-off period, because that determines how long past jobs are still included.
Hot work carries its own obligations
For welding, flame cutting, soldering and roof work with naked flames, virtually every policy imposes a hot work clause: a work permit, keeping the surrounding area clear and screened, firefighting equipment within reach and a check afterwards. If the clause is not complied with, the insurer can reject the fire claim. Record the permit and the after-check for each project; afterwards the burden of proof is hard to carry.
Downtime at the client and manufactured goods supplied
If a production line stands idle because of a fault for which you are liable, that is often pure financial loss: loss without damaged property. That is not covered as standard, any more than contractual penalties and price reductions. If you supply machines or build panels yourself, the strict liability for defective products in Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Codealso applies; declare those supplies when you apply for cover.
What does your premium depend on?
Your engineering disciplines — Electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, refrigeration and instrumentation each have their own risk class.
Hot work — Whether you weld, burn or solder on site is decisive, and whether you can show you comply with the relevant clause.
Amount of care, custody and control cover — The value of the installations you work in determines how much care, custody and control cover you need.
Work after completion and run-off — Including assembly errors that come to light later and the length of the run-off period both count.
Type of working environment — A working factory or data centre brings greater consequential loss than installation work in homes.
Own manufacture and engineering — If you supply machines, panels or designs, product liability and advisory risk are added.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your activities, turnover 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.
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 the installation I am working on itself insured?
Only with care, custody and control cover. Public and employers' liability insurance excludes damage to property you work on or have in your custody, and that is precisely the boiler, the cabinet or the machine you are working on. Damage to the surroundings is usually covered. So check on your policy schedule whether care, custody and control is included and up to what amount, and compare that with the value of your largest project.
How long does cover for work after completion continue?
That is governed by the run-off period on your policy schedule; it differs by insurer and by module. What usually matters is the moment the damage comes to light or is reported, not the moment you made the mistake. If you close your business or switch insurer, ask expressly about a retroactive or run-off arrangement, otherwise completed projects fall outside every policy.
What happens if I weld without a work permit?
You are then acting contrary to the hot work clause. If a fire breaks out, the insurer can reject the claim in whole or in part because a policy condition has not been met. The client will ask for the permit too. So work with a standard form for each site, have it signed off and keep a demonstrable after-check once the hot work has finished.
Is my client's loss of production covered?
Usually not as a matter of course. If the line stands idle without anything being damaged, it is pure financial loss, and that is limited or excluded on many liability policies. Contractual penalties and reductions in the contract sum are not included either. Where there is physical damage, the accompanying business loss can be included; have this point expressly assessed in advance.
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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