Legal expenses insurance (rechtsbijstandverzekering) for shops
For a shop the legal risk starts with the lease: retail space falls under the special protection of Article 7:290 of the Dutch Civil Code, and that makes every dispute with the landlord a specialism.
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.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
A shop is tied to premises in a location. Those premises are usually rented, and retail space is subject to its own tenancy regime with terms of five plus five years, protection against eviction and a procedure of its own for rent review. This is the subject on which shopkeepers most often need legal help, and it is exactly the subject that sits in a separate module on many policies.
A shop also has staff on varying types of contract: on-call workers, holiday staff and school pupils. Changes to rotas, offering a fixed number of hours and dismissal for poor performance lead to disputes that run through the UWV (the Dutch employee insurance agency) or the sub-district court. The employment law module is indispensable for that as soon as you have even a single member of staff.
The third source is the shop floor itself: shoplifting, a detention by your staff, a dispute with the local authority about displays or about works in the shopping street. For how the cover is built up, see business legal expenses insurance and for the wider package the SME insurance package.
What does legal expenses insurance for shops cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Basic
Business operations
The disputes that arise from running a business itself.
Contracts and deliveries
Collecting your invoices
A dispute with a supplier
Extension
Separate modules
What you add separately.
Employment law and staff
Rent of the business premises
Tax and social security
Limits
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.
Rent review for retail space
After each tenancy period the rent can be adjusted to that of comparable space locally. That goes through an expert's opinion and, if necessary, through the sub-district court. It is a long and costly process you can only win with market figures. Without the property module on your policy you bear those costs yourself. That module is almost never included as standard in business legal expenses cover.
Protection against eviction and substitution of tenant
If the landlord gives notice on the grounds of urgent personal use or a change of planning use, you have statutory protection, but with short deadlines for responding. If you sell the shop, substitution of tenant comes into play: the landlord has to accept your successor. Note that disputes about the sale of the business itself are excluded on many policies, even if the lease is part of it.
On-call workers and the offer of fixed hours
After twelve months you have to offer an on-call worker the average number of hours worked. If you do not, or do so late, wages can be claimed retrospectively for hours not worked. This type of claim occurs consistently in retail. The employment law module covers the assistance. The wages you then have to pay stay at your expense.
A shoplifting detention that gets out of hand
If your employee stops a thief and the thief is injured, or raises the issue of unlawful detention, you are held responsible under Article 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Code. If a criminal investigation is running against your staff at the same time, that is criminal defence cover: a separate module that often covers only unintentional offences and excludes intent.
What does your premium depend on?
Floor area and number of branches. More floor space and more branches means more leases and more staff.
Wage bill and share of on-call workers. Flexible contracts demonstrably produce more employment law disputes than permanent contracts.
Whether the premises are rented or owned. If you rent, the property module is needed. If you own, disputes with the VvE (Dutch owners' association) or the local authority come into play.
Sector and product range. Selling food, electronics or age-restricted products each carries its own supervisory risk.
Modules chosen. Employment law, property, debt collection, contracts and criminal defence are priced separately.
Excess and threshold amount. A higher threshold amount per case lowers the premium but excludes small disputes.
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.
If you rent your shop premises, yes. Without that module, disputes with a landlord about rent review, maintenance, service charges or termination fall outside the cover, and with retail space those disputes are long and costly. If you do not rent, the module remains useful for conflicts with the VvE or with the local authority about the premises.
Is a dispute about selling my shop covered?
Usually not. The acquisition and disposal of a business is excluded on most policies, even if the dispute formally concerns the lease or the takeover of stock. So have the sale agreement assessed in advance. The legal expenses policy will not catch this category afterwards.
Does the policy cover a fine from the regulator?
The assistance in objection and appeal proceedings is covered, provided you have the administrative law module on your policy. The fine itself never. Fines, penalty payments and other sanctions from a regulator or from the local authority are excluded on every legal expenses policy, because reimbursing them would take away the punitive character of the measure. That applies even if you eventually win the case in part.
From when am I covered?
After the waiting period, which is usually three months. A dispute whose cause lay before the start date remains excluded. If a discussion with your landlord about the rent is already running, that discussion cannot be insured after the event, not even by taking out a new policy with another insurer.
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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