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
A telehandler is not a forklift truck with a long mast and not a crane with outriggers. What characterises the machine is the telescopic load moment: the further the boom extends, the smaller the load the machine can still carry without tipping forward. Every attachment has its own load chart for that. Working outside that chart is a ground for exclusion in almost every policy, including for own damage to the machine itself.
The second feature is interchangeability. With forks you are a forklift truck, with a bucket a loader, with a hook and sling you are lifting, and with an approved work platform you are lifting people. Those attachments are not automatically insured: they are separate items with their own value.
The third feature is that the load is almost never yours. Roof tiles, trusses, bulk bags or bales that you lift and place on scaffolding or a roof are things in your care, custody and control. For how the cover is built up, see the plant and machinery insurance.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Liability
Third-party liability for plant and machinery
Damage you cause to others with the machine.
Compulsory on public roads
Also during work
Cables and pipes separately
The machine itself
Own-damage cover
Damage to the machine, the body and the attachments.
Fire and storm
Theft from the site
Overturning and collision
Extensions
Extensions
What you add separately.
Inherent defect and machinery breakdown
Transport to the site
Hired plant
What is covered
Situation
Third-party liability for plant and machinery
Own-damage cover
Damage to a building or a parked car next to the site
Yes
No
Theft of the machine from the building site
No
Provided that
Fire and storm damage
No
Yes
Inherent defect in the hydraulics or the engine
No
Provided that
Damage to the item you are working on with the machine
No
No
Wear and deferred maintenance
No
No
Mobile plant is a motor vehicle within the meaning of the WAM and needs third-party liability insurance on public roads; non-mobile plant does not. Damage to cables and pipes is generally only covered if the excavation notification has been made and the trial trenches have been dug. The item you work on with the machine falls under the care, custody and control exclusion.
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.
In reality the load chart is a condition of cover
The permitted weight depends on the extension length and the boom angle, not on what the machine can get onto the forks. Anyone who bypasses or overrides the load moment limiter to place a load anyway is working outside the manufacturer's specification. If the machine then tips forward, that is a classic ground for exclusion, and not only the damage to the telehandler goes unpaid but so does everything around it.
Every attachment is a separate item with its own chart
Forks, rubble bucket, bale clamp, concrete skip, lifting jib and work platform together represent a considerable value and are not automatically insured; declare them separately. Operation matters just as much: after every change the matching chart should be selected and the quick coupler demonstrably locked. An attachment that comes loose because the lock was not checked is an operating error with a risk of injury to everyone in front of it.
The load on the forks falls under care, custody and control, not own damage
If a pack of roof tiles slides off the forks or a bulk bag swings into a facade, this concerns things in your care. They fall under the care, custody and control exclusion in the liability cover, whereas own-damage cover relates only to the telehandler itself. If you damage the structure being worked on, that belongs with the project's construction insurance. Anyone who regularly carries and lifts materials needs an extension for care, custody and control.
Lifting people is only allowed with an approved work platform
A work platform on a telehandler is permitted where the platform and the machine have been approved as a combination and are correctly coupled. A pallet or a borrowed platform is not. If it goes wrong, you are liable under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code for the injury to your own employee and at the same time have a problem with your cover. If you regularly work at height with people, a aerial work platform is the appropriate means.
What does your premium depend on?
Lifting height and maximum lifting capacity. A machine that reaches great heights works more often on third-party buildings and therefore presents a heavier liability picture.
Fixed or rotating model. A rotating telehandler with outriggers is used more widely and assessed differently from a fixed construction or agricultural telehandler.
Attachments and their value. Forks, buckets, clamps, lifting jibs and work platforms only count if they have been declared separately with their value.
Use: own yard, building site or hiring out. Working on someone else's building site and hiring out with or without an operator lead to a different liability and own-damage assessment.
Lifting with a hook and sling. As soon as you move freely suspended loads, the question of a care, custody and control extension and the limit chosen becomes decisive.
Inspection and competence of the operator. A valid periodic inspection and demonstrably instructed operators are a standard acceptance question for this type of machine.
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.
No. The pack, the bales or the skip you lift are things in your care and that exclusion appears in almost every liability cover. Own-damage cover applies solely to the telehandler itself. If you regularly move other people's materials, have a care, custody and control extension included with a suitable limit; without that extension it is precisely the most common loss that is uninsured.
May I lift people with my telehandler?
Only with a work platform that has been approved together with this machine and is coupled and secured as prescribed. A pallet, a platform from another machine or an improvised structure will not do. If someone falls, you are liable as the employer under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code and the insurer will take the course of events into account in assessing cover.
Are my attachments covered automatically?
Not automatically. Forks, rubble bucket, bale clamp, lifting jib and work platform are separate items that you have to declare with their value, otherwise there is no cover in the event of theft or damage. Also report it when you buy an additional attachment later. With lifting gear such as slings and chains, inspection and rejection are subject to their own regime.
What if the machine tips forward while extending?
Damage to the telehandler itself falls under own-damage cover, provided you worked within the load chart; use outside the manufacturer's specification is excluded. Damage to buildings or injury to bystanders runs through the liability cover. The load you were carrying falls outside that, because it is in your care. So a single incident touches three different questions of cover at once.
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.
