Letting · guest damage · loss of turnover
Insuring holiday homes for business use through OOM Verzekeringen
As soon as you run holiday homes as a business, the risk shifts from the building to the guests. Changing users, key codes and a seasonal pattern determine the conditions.
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- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Recreatiewoningen zakelijk verzekeren via OOM Verzekeringen.
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
Finass arranges cover through OOM Verzekeringen among others and compares that offer with those of other insurers. For the commercial operation of holiday homes this insurer comes into play because the risk does not fit a home product: there are several units, changing users and a turnover that depends on those units. If you let a single house on your own account alongside your own use, look first at the private version; for a park or a portfolio the right fit is the buildings insurance for a leisure business.
The distinguishing point is the guest. Someone renting for a week treats a house differently from an owner. Insurers take that into account with restrictions you should know about in advance: damage by tenants, vandalism by users, burn marks, blockages and missing inventory are regularly excluded or subject to an excess. Theft theft without signs of forced entry also plays a sharper role here than elsewhere, because guests are given a key or an access code and sometimes pass it on. Record how you change codes between bookings and keep track of it.
The second theme is that you are insuring not just a building but a business. Besides the building there is inventory, linen, garden furniture and sometimes a hot tub or sauna. If a unit is out of use for weeks after a fire or water damage, you lose bookings and have to rebook or compensate guests; for that you need business interruption insurance with an indemnity period that matches the rebuilding time and the permit process. Injury to a guest is a liability matter and belongs on the liability insurance for a holiday business.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare holiday home and chalet insurance.
What to look out for
Four points that are different when letting holiday homes than when you use them yourself.
Who is the policyholder and who runs the business
Are the units in the name of a company, a partnership or held privately, while the letting runs through an agent? Put the right entity on the policy schedule and describe the business activity as the letting of holiday accommodation. A policy in the name of a private individual who in fact runs a letting business does not match the risk and leads to argument about the insurable interest when you claim.
Fire safety and use as accommodation
A house let to changing guests has an accommodation function with its own requirements for smoke alarms, escape route signage and sometimes a fire alarm system. Insurers include those requirements as warranty clause on the policy schedule. If the clause is not complied with, fire damage is not covered. Similarly, administrative fines and enforcement by the local authority are never insured.
Inventory, linen and outdoor facilities
The buildings cover is about the building. Beds, kitchen appliances, televisions, bicycles, linen, garden sets, play equipment and a hot tub fall outside it and call for an inventory section per unit. For technical installations such as a heat pump, pool pump or sauna, damage caused by an inherent defect or a technical fault is normally excluded.
Season, standing empty and periods in between
Outside the season the units stand empty and the utilities are sometimes disconnected. Many policies restrict cover while a unit stands empty, and the winter clauses apply here too. If you take a unit out of use for renovation, declare that separately. A property being renovated is a different risk, and damage caused by the work itself is not an insured peril.
What does your premium depend on?
- Number of items: and whether they are on one site or spread out
- Total rebuild value: built up per unit and per outbuilding
- Occupancy rate: letting all year round or only for a summer season
- Facilities on the site: swimming pool, sauna, play equipment and catering
- Fire safety: detection, compartmentation and escape routes
- Presence of management: a permanent manager on site or management at a distance
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| A fire starts because a guest had put the barbecue against the timber facade | Yes | Yes |
| A burst water pipe on the first floor soaks the living room floor | No | Yes |
| Between two bookings, burglars force the rear window of a cottage | No | Provided that |
| The dishwasher leaks unnoticed for months and the kitchen units rot through | No | No |
| The pane in the garden door breaks when a guest knocks over a garden chair | No | Provided that |
| The heat pump fails because of a fault in the compressor | No | No |
Choose the perils for each unit: a cottage that is full all year needs different arrangements from one that is closed for half the year.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
A guest has damaged the house. Is that covered?
Often not without an additional arrangement. Damage by tenants and vandalism by users is excluded on many policies or covered only above an excess. Deal with this in your rental terms with a deposit and a written handover, and record the condition of the house on arrival and departure. Ask your insurer explicitly which section deals with guest damage.
What if a guest is injured on my site?
Then it is a matter of liability and not of damage to property. As the owner of a building you are liable under Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code for a defect in the building or the facilities. On top of that you can be held liable under Article 6:162 DCC as an operator who has taken insufficient care. Those claims belong on public and employers' liability insurance (AVB), which also conducts the defence.
I let through an agent. Who has to insure what?
An agent handles bookings and communication, but is not the owner and does not insure your units. Read the agency agreement for the clause on damage and liability, because it usually pushes the risk back to you. Declare that the letting runs through a third party, so that it is on the policy schedule and does not turn out afterwards to be an undeclared circumstance.
How long should my business interruption cover run?
Reckon on the time until the unit can be let again and the time needed to get occupancy back up to level. After a fire, clearing up, permits, tendering and building together often take more than a year, and a seasonal business also loses a whole season. An indemnity period that is too short is the most common mistake with letting portfolios.
Read more
Within Holiday home insurance
- Holiday home insurancethe main page
- Oom verzekeringen recreatiewoning verzekering particulier
- Hienfeld recreatiewoningverzekering second home verzekering
- Verzekering vakantiewoning
- Turien co recreatiewoningverzekering recreatiehuisverzekering
- De categorieen en soorten recreatiewoningverzekeringen bij finass verzekert
- Hiscox recreatiewoningverzekering vakantiehuisverzekering
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