Business houseboat insurance through OOM Verzekeringen
A houseboat you let or use commercially is assessed differently from one you live in yourself. The condition of the hull and the mooring arrangements determine what an insurer is prepared to offer.
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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
A houseboat is not a pleasure craft that sails now and then, but an item that lies in the same place for years. The risk therefore shifts from sailing to lying still: rusting through or concrete rot in the hull, osmosis in glass fibre, wood rot in an old hull, and sinking because a through-hull fitting or a pipe fails. As soon as the houseboat is used commercially or let, a second layer is added, because third parties are then on board as well. The general product explanation can be read on the hub pleasure craft insurance; a description of the item itself is at insuring a houseboat.
Finass compares several insurers objectively. OOM Verzekeringen is one of the companies we can work with; whether OOM's offering suits you follows from your cover requirements and not from the name. We look at whether the houseboat is insured on the basis of a fixed agreed value or market value, whether the fitting-out and the jetty works are included, and what requirements apply to inspection and maintenance.
Pay particular attention to the liability side. Vessels are not subject to compulsory insurance in the way that Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) prescribes for motor vehicles. You are therefore responsible yourself for liability cover if the houseboat breaks free or damages a sheet piling or a jetty. If the houseboat lies at a permanent mooring and can be treated as immovable, the liability for structures under Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code may also come into play: if a gangway or jetty gives way, you are liable as possessor, even where you did nothing wrong.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare pleasure craft 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 points on which a commercial houseboat policy comes unstuck more often than on the sum insured.
You must report letting
If you let the houseboat, even only in season or through a letting platform, that is a circumstance the insurer wants to know. Concealing it falls under the duty of disclosure in Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code; when you claim, the insurer can rely on Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code and reduce or refuse the payout. Many conditions also contain an exclusion for damage caused by tenants or their guests.
Wear, rot and corrosion are not damage
Own-damage policies cover a sudden and unforeseen event. Concrete rot, osmosis, wood rot, rusting through and fouling are gradual processes and fall outside it. If the houseboat sinks because the hull had rusted through, the consequential damage may also be refused. A recent inspection report and demonstrable maintenance matter more here than the extent of cover on paper.
Mooring, permit and utility connections
The mooring permit and the arrangements with the harbour master or local authority also determine your position. Damage to the shore connection, mooring posts or sheet piling often falls outside own-damage cover and belongs with the liability cover. If you move the houseboat for works, transport over water is usually a separate risk to be declared, with its own conditions.
Contents, business assets and loss of rent
If you use the houseboat as an office, consulting room or accommodation, the business contents are a different matter from the vessel's fixed fitting-out. Third parties' equipment in your care on board runs up against the care, custody and control exclusion. Loss of rent and lost turnover after a claim are not included on an own-damage policy. For that you look to business interruption insurance.
What does your premium depend on?
- Year of build and material of the hull: concrete, steel, timber and glass fibre each age differently
- Establishing the value: a fixed valuation by an expert or market value
- Mooring and surroundings: a sheltered harbour, open water or a busy waterway
- Use: your own business use, permanent letting or accommodation
- Inspection and maintenance history: a recent report on the hull and the through-hull fittings
- Cover and excess chosen: liability only, or liability with own-damage cover
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Liability | Own-damage cover |
|---|---|---|
| Your houseboat breaks free and rams the local authority's sheet piling | Yes | No |
| That same collision crushes the bow of your own houseboat | No | Yes |
| A tenant falls through the gangway and breaks a wrist | Yes | No |
| The houseboat sinks because a through-hull fitting had rusted through | No | No |
| Fire in the galley of the houseboat you let as accommodation | No | Provided that |
| The weeks of rent you lose while the houseboat is at the yard | No | No |
Without own-damage cover you have only the left-hand column, and that never pays for damage to your own houseboat.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Is a houseboat required to be insured?
No. The insurance requirement in Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM) applies to motor vehicles, not to vessels. When it comes to it the local authority or the port company often makes liability cover a condition of the mooring permit, and a lender usually requires own-damage cover. Check first, therefore, what your mooring agreement and finance deed say before choosing cover.
What happens if the houseboat sinks through a leaking through-hull fitting?
That depends on the cause. If a fitting fails suddenly through an external event, there is usually cover. If the fitting turns out to have been deteriorating for some time through corrosion or age, that counts as wear and the loss is excluded. The expert looks at the condition of the material, not at the moment you noticed it. Report a loss in good time; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to do so.
Does the policy cover my tenants' contents?
No. A houseboat policy covers the vessel and its fixed fitting-out, possibly extended with your own business contents. Tenants' or guests' belongings are their own responsibility and belong on their contents insurance. If a claim is made against you for that damage, it comes under your liability cover, provided letting has been declared and is not excluded.
Why does Finass ask about the use of the houseboat?
Because it is the use that determines the risk, not the item. A houseboat in which the owner lives is accepted differently from one that receives changing guests every week or where staff work. We record that use in the application in advance, so that you do not end up in an argument about concealment when you claim and the underwriter can make a realistic offer.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
- Why we work with different insurersThe main page
- Houseboat insurance for private individuals through OOM VerzekeringenHull and superstructure, mooring, inspection
- Insuring through OOM VerzekeringenCross-border, unusual items, acceptance
- Insuring a beach house for private use through OOM VerzekeringenSeasonal siting, storm and sea, private use
- Insuring beach houses for letting through OOM VerzekeringenCommercial use, changing guests, seasonal income
- Insuring a houseboatNot a building, mooring, classification