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 situation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
Structurally, a petrol station is little more than a shop, a canopy and a car wash, but the insurer looks above all at the installation: underground tanks, pipework, dispensers, vapour recovery and any LPG filling points with their safety distances. Certification and periodic inspection of tanks and pipework are not administrative details here but underwriting conditions that end up as a clause on the policy.
The second theme is the separation between fire and soil. Buildings insurance pays for repairs to the building and installations after fire, storm or explosion. Contamination of soil and groundwater by a leaking tank or a spilt delivery is not covered. There is a separate environmental damage insurance for that. Anyone with only a buildings policy is empty-handed when a clean-up order arrives.
If there is a shop with substantial stock, also look at the buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) for shop premises. If a customer is injured because part of the canopy or a dispenser fails, that is not damage to the building but your liability as owner, under Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does buildings insurance for petrol stations cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
The basis
Rebuild value
What it costs to rebuild the premises.
Not the market value
Not the WOZ value (the Dutch property valuation)
Guarantee against underinsurance
Permanently fixed
What is included
Everything permanently attached to the building.
Building and installations
Outbuildings
Boundary fences
Optional
Extensions
What is excluded as standard.
Glass
Garden landscaping
Inherent defect and foundations
What is covered
Situation
Standard
With extension
Fire, smoke and lightning strike
Yes
Yes
Storm from force 7 upwards
Yes
Yes
Water damage from a burst pipe
Yes
Yes
Glass breakage
Sometimes
Yes
Groundwater coming through the floor
No
No
Wear and deferred maintenance
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 canopy is the structure that gets hit most
Impact by a lorry or a van with a raised body is the most common claim at a petrol station. The canopy structure carries lighting, cameras and sometimes the pipework to the dispensers, so a single impact brings down more than just the steelwork. Declare the clear headroom, the height restrictors and the impact protection around the dispensers, and record who recovers the cost from the party responsible.
Tanks, pipework and inspection
Underground tanks and pipework must be inspected and certified periodically. Without a valid inspection certificate an insurer will not assess the risk, or will set additional requirements. Note that damage caused by gradual leakage is almost always excluded: the policy responds to sudden events, not to corrosion that has developed over years. Keep inspection and leak detection reports and have the installer's details to hand.
LPG, vapours and safety distances
Where LPG is dispensed, set distances apply between the filling point, the storage vessel, the dispenser and the shop. If the layout of your site changes, the risk assessment changes with it. With unmanned filling there is also no supervision of spillage and incorrect use. Report any conversion, addition of charging points or canopy in advance; charging infrastructure for electric cars is a new fire risk on the same site.
What falls outside the buildings cover
Not covered are: soil and groundwater contamination and the cost of remediation, gradual leakage from tanks or pipework, and the fuel stock itself. Impact damage caused by your own equipment, damage to the car wash installation through normal wear and the turnover you lose during closure are also excluded. Those items call for environmental damage, machinery breakdown and business interruption cover alongside the buildings insurance.
What does your premium depend on?
Presence of LPG dispensing. An LPG installation with a storage vessel and filling point counts more heavily than a station with petrol and diesel only.
Age and certification of the tanks. Inspection certificates, leak detection and the year of installation determine whether the risk is acceptable.
Canopy structure and impact protection. Headroom, height restrictors and protective barriers around the dispensers limit the most common damage.
Shop, kitchen and car wash. A shop with a baking oven or a car wash with its own installations adds a second type of risk on the same site.
Manned or unmanned station. Supervision during filling affects the number of incidents involving spillage, misfuelling and vandalism.
Firefighting and emergency stop provisions. Accessible emergency stops, extinguishers at the dispensers and a practised staff protocol are assessed at underwriting.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
How we arrange it
You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, your risk and your 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.
Is soil contamination covered by the buildings insurance?
No. Buildings insurance pays for repairs to the building and installations after a covered event. Contamination of soil and groundwater, investigation costs and remediation fall outside it. There is a separate environmental damage insurance for that, which can cover both your own site and damage to third parties. At a petrol station that policy is in practice not an extra but a basic provision.
What happens if the canopy is hit by a vehicle?
You report the damage to your canopy to your own insurer, who will where possible recover it from the liability insurance of the party responsible. Record the registration number, the time and the camera footage, because without the other party's details the damage stays with you. Check whether the lighting, cameras and pipework in the canopy are insured as well.
Is the fuel in my tanks insured too?
No. The contents of the tanks are stock and belong on a goods insurance, not on the buildings policy. The tanks themselves, the pipework and the dispensers are part of the insured object, provided they appear in the description. Check expressly whether underground installations have been included; that cannot be taken for granted.
We are installing charging points on the site. Does that have to be reported?
Yes, always in advance. Charging infrastructure brings high power ratings, its own transformers and a different fire risk onto the same site where fuel vapours are present. Insurers set requirements on siting in relation to the dispensers and the shop. Also report the canopy, the cabling and the number of charging points, so that the rebuild sum and the risk profile are correct.
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.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
