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
In an office or a shop, evacuation involves people who are awake and know their way around. In a hotel, guests are lying in the dark in a room they saw for the first time that afternoon. That is why, with a hotel, an insurer looks first at fire compartmentation, detection and the evacuation arrangements and only then at the rebuild value. A fire alarm system with automatic notification and a rehearsed night-time protocol are acceptance conditions here, not a discount factor.
The second characteristic is that you have guests' property in your care. Luggage, laptops and jewellery in rooms, at the desk or in the safe are not your hotel's business contents. Those items are not covered by your business contents cover, and damage to them is excluded as standard on liability insurance unless care, custody and control is included, with a limit per guest and per event.
The third point is continuity. A hotel that closes after a loss loses not only the nights it misses, but also the bookings that move to a competitor and stay there. Business interruption cover, and above all the indemnity period you choose, are therefore more important than for a business whose customers simply return after reopening.
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.
The night is your worst-case scenario
Insurers assess who is present at night, whether that is a rested member of staff or a night porter on call, and how long it takes to reach every room. Practise the evacuation outside office hours too and record, for each drill, the time until the last room had been checked. That record is more relevant when cover is assessed and when a claim is investigated than the installation certificate on the wall.
The kitchen is the most common cause of fire
Deep fryers, grills and extraction systems cause the most fires in the hospitality sector, and a hotel kitchen sits below bedrooms. Have the extraction duct cleaned periodically by a certified company and keep the reports; insurers include that cleaning frequency as a clause. If the clause is not complied with and the fire starts in the duct, that is a ground for refusing payment.
Guests' luggage is a separate section
If luggage disappears from a room or is damaged by a leak, the guest holds you responsible. For those items you need care, custody and control cover with a limit per guest, and for valuables there is almost always a lower sub-limit, with a requirement that they were in the safe. State that restriction in your house rules and at reception, so that guests actually use the safe.
What falls outside the cover
Food poisoning is covered as personal injury, but fines from the regulator after an inspection cannot be insured. Legionella outbreaks require separate acceptance and a demonstrable control plan. Without a logbook the claim is refused. Theft by your own staff falls outside ordinary cover and calls for fidelity cover. And damage caused by deferred maintenance to roofs, pipework and installations is not paid.
What does your premium depend on?
Number of rooms and storeys. More storeys mean longer escape routes and a stricter assessment of the evacuation arrangements.
Fire compartmentation and detection. A certified fire alarm system with automatic notification to the control room is usually a condition for hotels.
Kitchen facilities. A full hot kitchen with deep fryers and extraction counts more heavily than a breakfast buffet without cooking.
Wellness and water installations. A sauna, swimming pool and spa bring legionella control, a drowning risk and extra installations with them.
Business interruption indemnity period. The period must bridge the rebuilding and the recovery of the bookings, not just the construction time.
Care, custody and control limit for guests' property. The limit per guest and per event for luggage and valuables determines the premium for that section.
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 my guests' luggage covered under the business contents cover?
No. Business contents are your own business equipment; guests' luggage is third-party property in your care. That calls for the care, custody and control extension, with a limit per guest and per event. For jewellery, cash and equipment a lower sub-limit often applies, together with the condition that the items were in the room safe or handed in at reception.
Am I liable if a guest slips on a wet floor?
That depends on your duty of care. Under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code you are liable where you allowed a dangerous situation to continue without warning or intervening. If the floor is structurally defective, liability under Article 6:174 DCC is added, regardless of fault. Record cleaning rounds and the placing of warning signs. That is your defence.
What exactly does business interruption cover for a hotel?
The gross profit you lose because the business is at a standstill or reduced after an insured material loss, during the indemnity period you have chosen. With a hotel, the recovery of occupancy counts too: guests who moved to another hotel do not all come back on the day you reopen. So choose a longer period than the expected construction time.
What happens if there is a legionella contamination?
Injury to guests is a liability matter and is covered in principle, but for hotels with wellness facilities insurers include a clause requiring compliance with the control plan: temperature measurements, flushing little-used outlets and a logbook that is kept up to date. If that logbook is missing, that is an independent ground for rejecting the claim, even if the contamination started elsewhere.
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.
