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Staff · booking platforms · guests
Legal expenses insurance (rechtsbijstandverzekering) for hotels
For a hotel the other party is often abroad: the booking platform, the tour operator or the group that never turned up.
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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.
In brief
What sets a hotel apart from other hospitality businesses is the area of cover of the policy. Your turnover runs through platforms and intermediaries with offices abroad and terms drawn up abroad. Legal expenses insurance that covers only the Netherlands comes to a halt as soon as the other party relies on another law or another court. Check that area before you commit to a distribution contract.
The second feature is the collecting on no-shows and cancellations. A cancelled group booking or an unpaid long-stay bill is an ordinary claim, but one against a party you have never met. As long as that claim is not disputed on its merits it is collection work; once a defence is raised, the case moves to the contracts module.
Outside the cover are: the amount of the claim itself, a dispute already running at the start, cases below the minimum interest or within the waiting period, and a guest's claim for damage or injury; that belongs with your liability insurance. See also the how a hospitality policy is built up.
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What does legal expenses insurance for hotels cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Separate modules
What you add separately.
- Employment law and staff
- Rent of the business premises
- Tax and social security
What falls outside it
What the policy will not take on.
- A dispute dating from before the start date
- Below the threshold
- During the waiting period
What is covered
| Situation | Basic module | With extension |
|---|---|---|
| Dispute with a client about work delivered | Yes | Yes |
| Collection of an unpaid invoice | Provided that | Yes |
| Employment dispute with an employee | No | Yes |
| Dispute with the landlord of your business premises | No | Yes |
| Tax dispute with the Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority) | No | Provided that |
| A dispute that was already running before the start date | No | No |
Business legal expenses insurance has a waiting period and a threshold: a case is not taken on below a certain financial interest. Employment law, tenancy law and tax law are usually in separate modules. In legal proceedings you have a free choice of lawyer. A dispute whose cause already existed when the policy was taken out is excluded.
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.
Check the area of cover before signing the platform contract
Booking platforms' distribution contracts usually designate a foreign court and foreign law. A policy with cover limited to the Netherlands then provides no assistance, however clear your case. Ask for an extension to Europe and have it stated on the policy schedule that disputes with parties abroad are included. Do that before you sign, because after that the choice of forum is fixed and your cover can no longer be adjusted.
Parity clauses and reviews are contract matters
Disputes with platforms are rarely about money and usually about terms: the level of commission, visibility, termination, or removal of an unjustified review. That is contract law and falls under the contracts module, not under debt collection. Record all correspondence with the platform including the version of the terms in force at the time, because they are changed unilaterally and without a record the old text can no longer be reconstructed.
No-shows and group cancellations are two kinds of case
A guest who does not turn up and does not pay is debt collection as long as he raises no defence. A group that cancels and disputes the cancellation scale is a contract dispute. You have to be able to prove that scale: in the confirmation, in the terms accepted and in the date on which the cancellation came in. Without those three documents the case founders at the assessment stage, whichever module you have taken out.
Staff on shifts and the building around them
A hotel runs twenty-four hours with varying staffing and many part-time contracts, and often rents or leases a large building with plant. Employment law and tenancy law are therefore both modules in daily use, not theoretical ones. With tenancy law, watch the notice periods and rent review; many policies exclude the latter. Check that well before the end of your lease term, because after that the case is already foreseeable.
What does your premium depend on?
- Geographical scope of the cover. The Netherlands, Europe or wider; decisive with platforms and tour operators abroad.
- Share of turnover through platforms. The more distribution runs through third parties, the more weight the contracts module carries.
- Number of rooms and staff. The size of the operation and the wage bill drive the employment law module.
- Rented, ground lease or owned. Determines whether tenancy law is needed and whether rent review is included.
- Volume of collections. The number of outstanding claims against guests, groups and business customers per year.
- Excess and the limit for external costs. What you bear yourself and the maximum for a lawyer in proceedings abroad.
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.
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.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Is a dispute with a booking platform covered?
Only if your policy covers disputes with parties abroad and the subject falls under the contracts module. Both conditions have to be met. Many hotels only discover at the time of the dispute that their cover stops at the border. Ask for written confirmation of the area of cover and keep it with the distribution contract.
Can I have an unpaid group booking collected?
Yes, with the debt collection module, provided the claim is undisputed and exceeds the minimum interest. If the cancellation or the scale is disputed on its merits, it is no longer collection but a contract dispute and you need that module. Take both if you work with groups and business customers.
A guest is injured in the hotel. Which policy?
Your liability insurance. It covers injury to visitors and conducts the defence against the claim. Legal expenses cover only comes into play in conflicts in which no compensation is being claimed from you, for instance an enforcement matter arising from the same incident. If in doubt, report the incident to both insurers, even if there is no letter yet.
Is there a waiting period on this insurance?
Yes. In the first period after the policy is taken out new disputes are not handled, and disputes already running at the start fall outside it permanently. If a discussion with a platform, a landlord or an employee is already under way, you do not take it with you. So take out the cover in a period when nothing is going on.
Read more
Within Rechtsbijstandverzekering
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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.
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This page was written and checked by an adviser at Finass Verzekert. Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.