At a research institution the exposure sits in three things at once: equipment with long lead times, samples and data series that cannot be recreated, and a building full of people many of whom are not employees.
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.
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
A laboratory or test rig does not fit well into ordinary business contents insurance. A mass spectrometer, a climate chamber or an ultra-low temperature freezer rarely breaks through fire or burglary, but through an internal fault, a compressor failing or a voltage spike. Those are causes that business contents cover specifically excludes and for which machinery breakdown or electronics cover is needed. The lead time for replacement equipment then matters more than the purchase price: that lead time determines how long the research stands still.
The second peculiarity is staff who formally are not staff. PhD candidates on a grant, master's students, visiting researchers from abroad, trainees and seconded analysts work under your authority and on your premises. The duty of care in Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code extends to them as well, and for damage they cause to third parties 6:170 for subordinates and 6:171 applies to non-subordinates you engage. Anyone who does not declare these groups when applying is insuring a smaller institute than the one they run.
If you carry out contract research or supply reports, advice and measurement data to clients, a second form of liability is added. A measurement error or a series wrongly interpreted does not result in damaged property but in pure financial loss, and that falls under professional indemnity insurance. Consortium and grant agreements also often place liability and indemnities contractually with one of the partners; we read those clauses before the cover is determined.
What does insurance for research institutions 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.
Samples and data series appear on no policy
Insurance pays for physical damage and repair costs, not for the value of four years' work. If a freezer fails and a cell bank is lost, the insurer pays for the freezer and sometimes for the cost of recreating samples, but not for the research time lost. A temperature alarm that calls someone at night, a second freezer at another address and a tested copy of the raw data do more here than any sum insured.
Whoever is in your lab is not always your employee
After an accident with a centrifuge, a gas cylinder or an aggressive reagent, the court looks at who gave the instruction and had supervision, not at the type of contract. Under Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code your duty of care also applies to PhD candidates, students and hired-in analysts. So declare those numbers separately, because insurers calculate employers' liability on the basis of the payroll and grant-funded students do not appear in it.
Equipment fails from within, not from fire
Business contents insurance covers external perils. An electron microscope with a faulty high-voltage module, a pump system running dry or a control board burning out is an inherent defect, and that is specifically excluded there. Only machinery breakdown or electronics cover picks that up, usually excluding wear, calibration and everything the maintenance contract or factory warranty already covers. Record which items of equipment fall under which cover.
What the insurer never pays here
Outside the cover are: deliberate acts and wilful recklessness under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code, gradual soil and water pollution from your own storage, fines and penalty payments from regulators, damage from ionising radiation and nuclear risks, and grant funding reclaimed or lost. If you supply a prototype to third parties, product liability under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code is added, which ordinary public and employers' liability insurance only picks up to a limited extent.
What does your premium depend on?
Field of research — Chemical, biological, nuclear or social science research each has its own risk class and acceptance policy.
Replacement value and lead time of the equipment — Not only what a set-up costs, but how long you are without it, determines the cover and the premium.
Size of the research group — Including PhD candidates, students, visiting researchers and hired-in analysts, even where they are not on the payroll.
Hazardous substances, gases and laboratory animals — Quantities stored, licensing requirements and animal housing weigh heavily at acceptance.
Share of contract research — Work for external clients brings professional indemnity and contractual indemnities with it.
Prevention and claims history — Climate monitoring with alarm response, standby power, compartmentation and earlier notifications determine the conditions.
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.
In part. The cost of retrieving or regenerating files can sometimes be insured through electronics or cyber cover. The value of the research time lost cannot: it is not physical damage and cannot be objectively quantified. A tested off-site back-up therefore remains the only real solution, not the policy.
Do PhD candidates and visiting researchers fall under my employers' liability?
Yes. Article 7:658(4) of the Dutch Civil Code extends the duty of care to everyone carrying out work in the course of your activities, whatever the contract. A grant-funded PhD candidate or a visiting researcher from abroad therefore falls under it. Declare these groups separately when you apply, otherwise the insured payroll does not match the actual number of people in your building.
We carry out research for companies. Is that insured differently?
Yes. A calculation error or a wrong interpretation in your report results in financial loss without anything being broken, and that falls outside public and employers' liability insurance. Professional indemnity cover is needed for that, which works on a claims made basis. In consortia, also note the indemnity clauses: liability accepted by contract beyond what the law imposes usually remains uninsured.
Are laboratory animals and animal housing insured as well?
Liability for damage an animal causes to third parties follows from Article 6:179 of the Dutch Civil Code and can fall under the liability cover. The animals themselves are your own property; livestock is often excluded on property policies or can only be covered on separate conditions. Failure of climate control or air handling in animal housing calls for a separate arrangement.
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.
