Seasonal peak · spoilage · storage elsewhere
Goods insurance through Nationale-Nederlanden
Stock moves. It grows ahead of the season, sits for a while at an outside warehouse and leaves the premises again. A goods policy works with one amount at one address, and that is exactly where the shortfall arises.
- Several insurers compared objectively
- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Goederenverzekering via Nationale-Nederlanden.
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
Goods insurance covers your trading stock, raw materials, semi-finished goods and packaging against fire, explosion, storm, water, burglary and impact. It sits alongside business contents cover, which is about your business assets. Finass applies to, among others, Nationale-Nederlanden and sets that objectively alongside the offering of more than thirty companies. The cover you need determines the choice.
The hardest thing about this item is that it does not stand still. A garden centre, a gift shop and a builders' merchant hold several times their annual average in their peak week. If you insure the average, the proportionality rule works against you in a fire during the peak. If you insure the peak, you pay all year for stock that is not there for eleven months. The way out is a provisional premium policy with adjustment: you declare the actual levels periodically and the premium is set afterwards. Make that declaration on time, because a late or incorrect declaration leads to the same reduction as underinsurance.
The second question is where the goods are held. Overflow stock in a rented shed, items with a fulfilment provider, material on consignment with a dealer and pallets on the loading dock are not at the policy address. Each of those places must be notified and assessed separately. Goods that are in transit fall outside this policy in any event and belong on a goods in transit insurance or, if carried in your own vans, on a own goods in transit insurance.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare business contents insurance.
What to look out for
Four points that go wrong more often with stock than with business contents.
The peak determines your risk, not the average
Set out your stock levels by month and look at the highest. If your turnover builds towards the autumn, that is also where the largest loss lies in a fire. Discuss a premium adjustment clause or a temporary increase for the peak period. An increase you apply for only after the container has been unloaded comes too late for that night's loss.
Spoilage and temperature are a separate section
If a cold store fails, the spoiled stock is only covered if refrigeration and freezer damage is expressly included. Even then the condition applies that the failure results from a covered cause. A breakdown in the installation itself belongs on machinery breakdown insurance, and a power cut on the public network is excluded in most sets of conditions. A temperature alarm with remote signalling is often a condition of acceptance.
Goods away from the policy address
Notify every place where stock is regularly held, even if it is a temporary rented shed. Lower limits and stricter security requirements often apply to storage with third parties. Conversely: if you hold customers' goods in storage yourself, those are third parties' property and without a separate item they are not included, even if you signed for them on receipt.
Exclusions that apply specifically to stock
Outside the cover are inherent spoilage, self-heating, vermin, mould and discolouration, as well as damage traceable to faulty packaging or incorrect stacking. Also discrepancies that only come to light at the annual stocktake are not an insured event: without an identifiable event and without signs of forced entry there is no cover. Theft by your own staff is excluded.
What does your premium depend on?
- Average and maximum value of stock: at purchase or cost price, not at selling price
- Type of goods: flammable, perishable or attractive to thieves
- Method of storage: racking height, pallet storage and distance to the outside wall
- Number of storage locations: your own premises, rented sheds and storage with third parties
- Security and detection: alarm grade, response, sprinklers and temperature monitoring
- Method of setting the premium: a fixed sum or a provisional premium with adjustment
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Extended | Comprehensive |
|---|---|---|
| A fire in the warehouse in which the entire autumn stock is lost | Yes | Yes |
| A burglary in which boxes of electronics are taken from the warehouse | Yes | Yes |
| A storm lifts part of the roof and rain reaches the stock beneath it | Yes | Yes |
| A forklift truck knocks over a rack and the stock falls to the floor | No | Yes |
| A burst sprinkler pipe makes the cardboard packaging unsaleable | Yes | Yes |
| A winter collection is left unsold at the end of the season | No | No |
Comprehensive cover adds your own actions and accidents in the warehouse to the named perils. A falling market value remains a commercial risk under both forms.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
How do I avoid underinsurance with fluctuating stock?
By agreeing a premium adjustment with the insurer and declaring the actual levels periodically, or by applying for a temporary increase for the peak period. Both must be arranged in advance. If the actual value at the time of the loss turns out to be higher than the declared sum, the loss is paid proportionately, and that hits small claims too.
Our refrigeration failed because of a fault on the network. Is that covered?
Usually not. Failure of public utilities is excluded in almost every set of conditions, even where the consequences for the stock are severe. Extensions are available under which a network failure lasting longer than a set period does count. If the cause lies in your own installation, the route is machinery breakdown with a section for the spoiled goods.
I work with a fulfilment provider. Who insures that stock?
The goods remain yours, so the loss is your loss. The fulfilment provider is only liable within the limits of its general terms, and those are usually restricted. Have the address of the outside warehouse added to your policy and ask what security is in place there. Without that entry there is no cover for that location.
What if I cannot supply after a fire?
The goods policy pays for the lost stock at cost price. The lost margin, the continuing fixed costs and the loss of customers fall outside it and belong on a business interruption insurance. Choose the indemnity period on the basis of the time it takes to have suppliers produce again, including delivery times from abroad.
Read more
Within Inventarisverzekering
Similar pages
- Stock insurance through Avéro Achmea
- Business contents insurance for warehouses
- Business contents and goods insurance for a butcher's shop
- Business contents and goods insurance through De Goudse
- Business contents and goods insurance through a.s.r.
- Business contents insurance through Nationale-Nederlanden
- Business contents insurance for shops
- Business contents insurance for bakeries