Tools in the van · overnight storage · replacement value
Own goods in transit insurance for self-employed professionals
Own goods in transit insurance covers the things you carry in your own van for your own business. It is transit cover on the load and not an extension of your motor policy.
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
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
What lies in the load space is not part of the vehicle. Own-damage cover, comprehensive included, pays for the bodywork and the fixed parts, but not for your tools, your measuring equipment and the materials you take to the customer that day. For those there is own goods in transit insurance: goods in transit cover in which you are both the owner and the carrier of the load.
That is what distinguishes this policy from carriers' liability. If you carry other people's property for payment, you are a carrier within the meaning of the carriage conditions and it is a matter of liability with its own limits. Here there is no other party: the goods are yours, the loss is yours, and the policy pays directly.
The cover continues during loading, unloading and carrying things by hand from the van to the job. If you work in construction, this ties in with the package for the self-employed and with the project's CAR cover, which specifically does not cover your own equipment.
What does own goods in transit insurance cover for the self-employed?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The basics
Liability
AVB for property damage and injury, BAV for professional errors.
Damage to third parties
Employers' liability
Care, custody and control as an extension
Your business
Assets and continuity
Business contents, goods and lost turnover during downtime.
Business contents at replacement value as new
Goods at cost price
Business interruption or additional costs
If you employ people
Staff
Sickness absence, accidents and the traffic risk.
Continued pay for 104 weeks
Group personal accident
WEGAS for traffic risks
What is covered
Situation
AVB
BAV
Cyber
Injury to a visitor or customer
Yes
No
No
Damage to a client's property
Sometimes
No
No
Financial loss caused by an advisory or calculation error
No
Yes
No
Downtime after a ransomware attack
No
No
Yes
Data breach involving personal data
No
Sometimes
Yes
Damage to property in your care
No
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
The overnight clause determines whether theft is paid
Virtually every own goods in transit policy sets requirements for the night. Between roughly ten in the evening and six in the morning the van must be kept in a locked space, or the load space must be empty. If the van stands in the street outside the door and is broken into, there is no cover, however good the lock was. Arrange a garage or a locked site, or take your tools out every evening.
Insure at replacement value, not at purchase price
The basis is what it costs to buy the same contents again today, including batteries, chargers, cases and the small tools you never count. Anyone who has to restock the van in one go ends up higher than expected. If the actual contents exceed the sum insured, you are underinsured and payment is made proportionately. Update the amount as soon as you buy an expensive machine.
Record in advance what is in the van
After a break-in you have to show what has gone. A police report is not the same as proof of ownership. Keep a list with make, type and serial number, store the receipts digitally and photograph the fitted-out load space from time to time. Insurers ask for this as a matter of course. If the supporting evidence is missing, the loss is assessed on what you can prove, and that is generally less than what you have lost.
What an own goods in transit policy does not pay for
Theft without signs of forced entry is not paid for, nor is theft from an unattended open trailer or an unlocked load bed. Damage because the load was insufficiently secured or packed is for your account. Wear and tear, mechanical failure and inherent defect of a machine fall outside the cover, and intent or deliberate recklessness is excluded under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
Sum insured for the load. The replacement value of what you carry on average is the basis on which the premium is calculated.
Nature of the goods carried. Power tools and measuring equipment are easier to sell on and therefore more prone to theft than building materials.
Number of vehicles. Each van is a separate place where a load is kept and where a loss can arise in a single night.
Where the van stands at night. Your own garage, a locked business site or parking on the public road lead to very different conditions.
Security of the load space. Additional locks, a deadlock, an alarm or a certified tool safe in the van all count.
Area of operation and chosen excess. Whether you drive only in the Netherlands or beyond it, and what amount you bear yourself per event.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your activities, turnover and wishes.
We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Are my tools not simply covered on my motor insurance?
No. A motor policy insures the vehicle and the parts fixed to it. Loose items in the load space are cargo, and that falls outside any own-damage cover, comprehensive included. If your van is broken into, the motor insurer pays at most for the damage to the door and the lock. For the contents you need separate cover aimed at the load.
Does the cover also apply while the tools are at the workplace?
That differs from policy to policy. The core is the carriage, including loading and unloading. Many insurers extend it to tools standing at the job during working hours, but often only during the day and not in an unattended space. If you regularly work several days at one location and leave things behind, ask expressly for a clause covering temporary storage on the building site.
What is the difference from goods in transit insurance?
Carrying your own goods is a form of goods in transit in which you carry only your own property for your own business. Ordinary goods in transit insurance also covers consignments carried by a third party or which you buy and sell with carriage in between. If you carry for others for payment, it is no longer your own transport but liability as a carrier, with different limits.
I sometimes hire a trailer. Is the load in it covered?
Only if the policy names carriage with a trailer. Many conditions cover closed load spaces only, and an open trailer falls outside that by definition. Even with a closed hired trailer the overnight clause applies in full. Declare the use of a trailer on the application, so that no argument arises about which vehicle was insured.
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
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