Shell fit-out · ROZ lease · right of removal
Tenant's improvements insurance for rented business premises
Business premises are often handed over as a shell and fitted out by the tenant. That fit-out sits on the tenant's balance sheet, but on nobody's policy.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Huurdersbelangverzekering voor een gehuurd bedrijfspand.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Tenant's improvements insurance (huurdersbelang) covers the fixed installations you have had fitted as a tenant in someone else's premises: partition walls, suspended ceilings, floor finishes, a shopfront, kitchen or pantry fittings, data and electrical cabling, air handling and refrigeration. Finass arranges cover through, among others, Nationale-Nederlanden and compares that objectively with more than thirty companies; what you need follows from what in the building is yours.
The buildings insurance taken out by the owner covers the shell as it was handed over. Your fit-out usually falls outside it, even though it has become the owner's property by accession. Leases based on the usual model forms also state expressly that the tenant insures its own property and alterations. If you go through that clause, you will know exactly which items are yours.
Distinguish this from tenant's liability. That is liability for damage you cause to the leased property, for example through fire or a leak, and it belongs on the public and employers' liability insurance. Article Article 7:218 of the Dutch Civil Code presumes that damage to the leased property was caused by the tenant; that presumption does not apply to fire damage, but the discussion is no less sharp for it.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare business contents insurance.
What to look out for
Four points that make the difference between cover and dispute in rented business premises.
What in the building is yours
Draw up a list of everything you have had fitted, with invoices and handover documents. That is needed not only for the sum insured, but also as evidence afterwards: Article 7:960 of the Dutch Civil Code limits the payment to your actual loss. If the fit-out is extended over the years, update the sum, otherwise a reduction for underinsurance follows.
The lease determines the division
The usual model leases state which parts are for the tenant's account and whether the landlord has waived its right of recourse. If such a waiver of recourseis missing, the owner's insurer can pursue you after a fire that started with you. Read those clauses before signing and align your cover with them.
What stays outside this policy
Excluded are damage to the shell itself, defects arising from deferred maintenance by the owner , and inherent defect or a design fault in the fit-out you had carried out. Glass breakage often calls for separate glass insurance, and damage during the fit-out works themselves belongs with the contractor and its construction all risks (CAR) cover.
End of lease, relocation and vacancy
At the end of the lease you may remove what you have fitted, provided you hand the property back in its original condition (Articles 7:216 and 7:224 of the Dutch Civil Code). If you transfer the fit-out to the landlord, your interest ends and you no longer have to pay for it. If the premises stand empty in the meantime or you sublet, report it; circumstances that are not reported affect the cover under Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
- Value of the fit-out — walls, ceilings, floors, installations and cabling
- Use of the premises — office, shop, catering, workshop or storage
- Construction and layout — building material, fire compartmentation and number of users
- Type of cover — fire and storm, or extended perils
- Prevention — burglary protection, firefighting equipment and electrical inspection
- Combination with business contents and goods — items on one policy usually work out more favourably
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
What is covered
| Situation | Extended | Comprehensive |
|---|---|---|
| A fire in the pantry you installed and the suspended ceiling above it | Yes | Yes |
| A burst pipe floods the resin floor you laid | Yes | Yes |
| A forklift truck destroys a partition wall you put in | No | Yes |
| Burglary damage to the shopfront and entry system you fitted | Yes | Yes |
| Theft of your laptops and trading stock from the rented premises | No | No |
| Your dismantled kitchen fittings are damaged during the move to other premises | No | Provided that |
Tenant's improvements cover concerns only fixed installations you have fitted yourself; loose items belong on the business contents or goods cover.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
Does the owner not simply insure my fit-out as well?
As a rule, no. The owner's buildings policy is based on the rebuild value of the shell as it stood. Your fit-out is not an insurable interest for the owner and so is not in that sum. The lease usually also states that you insure your own alterations. Ask the landlord for written confirmation if you believe it has been arranged differently.
What is the difference with tenant's liability?
Tenant's improvements cover concerns your own investment: that you are paid for damage to your walls and installations. Tenant's liability concerns damage you cause to the owner's building which he recovers from you. The latter is a liability risk and belongs as a separate section on public and employers' liability insurance (AVB), not on this policy.
I rent a unit in a multi-tenant business building. Does that change anything?
Yes. You share the entrance, corridors and sometimes installations with other users, so a fire or burglary at a neighbour affects you directly. Insurers therefore look at the activities of the other tenants and at the fire compartmentation between units. State on the application who else is in the building; that is a circumstance which influences acceptance.
Is business interruption after a fire covered as well?
No. This policy pays for the repair of the installations, not for the turnover you lose during the rebuild or the cost of a temporary site. That is what business interruption insurance and the additional costs insuranceare for. Match their indemnity period to the time a refit realistically takes.
Read more
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