Business insurance through Nationale-Nederlanden
A construction or engineering business rarely needs one policy. The question is which loss lands on which contract, and which loss falls between two contracts.
- Several insurers compared objectively
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Work out for yourself what it would cost.
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- 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.
- Independent advice
- Several insurers
- Switching arranged
- Help with claims
In brief
Finass works independently and has no interest in any one risk carrier. We compare the offerings of more than thirty insurers and the outcome depends on what you do. Nationale-Nederlanden comes into the picture with businesses needing several types of business cover at once, for example a construction risk alongside public and employers' liability and environmental damage. The full range from this insurer can be found at the overview page.
Take one morning on a site and follow what can go wrong. The excavator hits a gas main: that is a matter for the plant and machinery insurance and, if the vehicle was taking part in traffic, for the compulsory cover under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). A storm blows over the half-built work: that is the construction policy, see Construction all risks (CAR) insurance. The diesel oil released has to be cleaned up: environmental damage. The client cannot deliver for three weeks and sends an invoice: that is financial loss and falls on none of the three. That is how gaps in cover arise, not through poor policies but through policies bought alongside each other.
With business contracts the premium usually runs on turnover or payroll, with an adjustment after the end of the year. If you grow, an additional charge follows. If you shrink, a refund should follow. Supply those figures in good time, because with many insurers a failure to declare leads to an estimate to the insured's disadvantage. The same applies to changes in your activities: the described business activity on the policy schedule determines what you are covered for, and Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code and Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code make clear what happens if that description is no longer correct.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare construction all risks (CAR) insurance.
The same independent view, whatever insurer
We work with dozens of insurers and choose whichever fits your situation best — not whichever pays us the most. That means advice built around you, not around one brand.
Insurers
Independent
AdviceWhy arrange it through Finass Verzekert?
We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
Independent
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
One fixed adviser
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
What to look out for
Four subjects that lead to argument on a business package more often than the premium.
One loss, two policies
If a beam falls from scaffolding onto a neighbour's car, that touches both the construction policy and the liability cover. If those are with different insurers, the argument starts about which comes first, and in the meantime you pay two excesses. With one risk carrier that argument is shorter. Do record which policy is primary, because contribution provisions like to point at each other.
What no business non-life insurance pays for
Excluded are wear, deferred maintenance and gradually acting influences, the cost of the improving or redoing your own work, administrative fines and penalty payments, and intent and wilful recklessness under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code. Also loss due to delay and lost turnover fall outside a property damage policy. For that there is a separate business interruption insurance.
Staff who take to the road
If your staff drive a van to a site, an accident engages your duty of care under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code. The employee's own loss as the driver normally does not fall under the ordinary liability cover. There is separate traffic cover for employers for that. The distinction is explained at WEGAS and WEGAM. Subsection 4 also brings hired-in workers within your responsibility.
Sums insured go out of date faster than you think
More machinery, a second warehouse, a larger store: the values declared lag behind and you only notice when you claim. If the sum insured is lower than the actual value, the insurer pays proportionately, even on a small claim. Go through the amounts each year and record what they are based on; an index clause does not replace an up-to-date declaration.
What does your premium depend on?
- Annual turnover and payroll: the two usual bases, both with an adjustment afterwards
- Described business activity: the activities you are insured for
- Number and type of policies: a combined contract is rated differently
- Prevention on the site: lockable storage, camera surveillance and hot work procedures
- Excess per section: can differ per section within the same contract
- Claims history: the declaration over several years helps determine the acceptance
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Construction all risks (CAR) insurance | AVB |
|---|---|---|
| A newly poured concrete floor cracks in a night frost during the construction period | Yes | No |
| Copper pipework already installed is taken from the site over the weekend | Yes | No |
| The client's existing building is damaged while you are refurbishing it | Provided that | Provided that |
| A resident trips over your materials on the pavement and breaks a wrist | No | Yes |
| Water used to fight a fire on the site pollutes the ditch alongside | No | Provided that |
| A mobile elevating platform borrowed from a fellow firm topples over on the site | Provided that | No |
If the cause lies in the works themselves, the construction policy is up. If the damage affects someone else, the liability cover is.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Is it sensible to place everything with one insurer?
It limits overlapping cover and administration, and when you claim you do not have to open two files. The disadvantage is that you are also tied for the section in which that insurer is less keen. We therefore compare the package as a whole and the separate parts against the best alternative, so that the choice is a considered one and not a lazy renewal.
What happens if I do not submit my turnover declaration?
The insurer then sets the adjustment itself, almost always on an assumption that comes out higher than your actual figures. More important is that a structurally low declaration comes back at you when you claim: the premium has then been calculated on a risk smaller than the real one. So make the declaration a fixed task in your year-end routine.
Our activities have been extended to include maintenance. Do I have to report that?
Yes. Maintenance and servicing bring different risks from new building: you enter existing buildings, work on other people's installations and more often have third-party property in your care. Without adjusting the description of activities you run the risk that a claim falls outside it. A change is normally processed on the policy schedule within a working day.
Does property belonging to the client that we manage temporarily fall under the cover?
Usually not. For property you have in your keeping without owning it, the care, custody and control exclusion applies: borrowed equipment, a bunch of keys, a machine you have in for work. Separate care, custody and control cover is needed for that, often with its own limit. Ask about it as soon as you take on work involving temporarily keeping or moving other people's property.
Read more
Within Why we work with different insurers
Similar pages
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