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
This page is not about a form of cover but about behaviour. Liability arises under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code only where a standard has been breached and loss results from it. In reality businesses rarely come unstuck on the standard itself; they come unstuck on their evidential position. Anyone who cannot show what was agreed, what was warned about and what fell outside the assignment loses an argument that could have been won on the merits.
There are also three moments at which you can damage your own cover without anything going wrong in the work. When application: an incomplete statement of your activities gives the insurer a right to rely on Article 7:928 and 7:930 DCC. In the case of notification: notifying late prejudices the insurer's investigation and touches Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code. In the case of acknowledgement: admitting liability yourself or reaching a settlement without consultation is a ground on virtually every policy for not paying the loss.
The three habits below cost no premium. They do determine whether a claim falls within your policy or outside it. We go through them with you as a matter of course in a portfolio review.
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.
Put on paper what is not included
A confirmation of instructions that only describes what you do leaves the rest open. State expressly what falls outside the assignment: no check on the structure, no tax assessment, no inspection of existing work. Record additional work before it is carried out, not on the final invoice. Most claims about work delivered "too narrowly" disappear as soon as you can show that the limitation was discussed and accepted in advance.
Warn in writing and keep it
If you see a risk you are not resolving yourself — a sunken floor, an outdated installation, an assumption by the client that is wrong: report it by email and keep proof of sending. When a claim comes, the difference between "he saw it and said nothing" and "he warned and nothing was done" determines where responsibility lies. A verbal warning does not exist afterwards.
Notify at once, never admit
Notify a claim, or a circumstance that could lead to a claim, as soon as you know of it. Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires it and notifying late costs cover where the insurer is prejudiced as a result. At the same time, never say that it was your mistake, pay nothing in advance and reach no settlement without consultation. You may apologise for the way things went. An admission of liability is a legal act that belongs to the insurer.
Check what your policy structurally does not cover
Prevention does not help against exclusions. Permanently outside the cover are: intent under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code, fines and penalty payments, the cost of redoing your own work, liability you assumed contractually that goes beyond liability in law, and loss from activities that are not on your policy schedule. So review the description of your activities every year.
What does your premium depend on?
Claims history. The number of claims notified weighs more heavily at renewal than the amounts paid.
Description of activities. The more precisely your activities are described, the less argument there is when a claim comes.
Use of your own terms and conditions. Terms demonstrably handed over, with a limitation of liability, reduce the risk.
Excess per claim. A higher excess reduces the premium and keeps small files out of your claims history.
Sum insured per claim and per year. Clients often require a minimum. A higher limit increases the premium.
Retroactive and run-off risk. Cover for past work or for claims after termination is priced separately.
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.
No. Virtually every policy prohibits admitting liability without consent, because it undermines the insurer's negotiating position. You may show sympathy, give an explanation and say that you will notify your insurer. Describe factually what happened and leave the legal assessment to the claims handler. An email saying "sorry, we got this wrong" will be used against you later.
Does a limitation of liability in my terms and conditions help?
Against business clients, often yes, provided the terms were handed over before or when the contract was concluded and do not appear for the first time on the invoice. Against consumers, far-reaching limitations are more readily found unreasonably onerous. A limitation also only helps with contractual liability; where a third party who is not a party to the contract is injured, it is beside the point.
When is a circumstance already worth notifying?
As soon as you can reasonably expect a claim to arise from it. An angry email, a defect found in completed work or an accident at your premises already qualifies, even without a letter of claim. Notifying early costs you nothing: a notification of circumstances is not a claim. If you wait until a lawyer writes, the insurer may be prejudiced in its investigation and your cover is open to question.
Does better work prevent claims more than a better policy?
The two do different things. Recording, defining scope and warning reduce the chance of an argument arising and improve your position if one does. A policy changes none of that, but it carries the cost of defence and of a justified claim. Practice shows that the files that turn out most expensive rarely involve the most serious mistakes, but the most poorly documented ones.
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.
