Damage to property and personal injury
- Injury to third parties
- Damage to other people's property
- Also during visits to clients' sites
Portfolio · Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code · tenants and visitors
Liability insurance for property and real estate
Anyone who holds a portfolio of properties carries the liability for every building in it — including the ones a managing agent runs for you.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor onroerend goed.
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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.
In brief
As the owner of a building you carry strict liability under Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code. With a portfolio that question arises not once but afresh for each property, and each time against a different background: a let business premises, a residential building with a shared stairwell and an empty building awaiting renovation each call for a different kind of supervision.
Letting does not move that liability. The tenant answers for what they do; you answer for the condition of what you let. If you outsource the management, the maintenance or the cleaning, that party's mistake can still land with you through Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code. To outsiders the principal is often indistinguishable from the party doing the work.
In practice a portfolio policy with a schedule of properties works better than separate cover for each building: purchases and sales, changes of use and vacancy are dealt with in a single amendment. That schedule does have to be accurate, because an unreported property or an unreported change of use affects your duty of disclosure under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does liability insurance for property cover?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Employers' liability
Accidents at work and occupational illnesses.
- Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code
- Hired-in staff as well
- Not in traffic
Extensions
What is excluded as standard.
- Care, custody and control
- Work after completion
- Environmental damage
What is covered
| Situation | AVB | Another policy |
|---|---|---|
| Injury to a visitor or customer | Yes | No |
| Damage to a client's property | Sometimes | No |
| An accident at work involving an employee | Yes | No |
| Injury to staff in traffic | No | Yes |
| Damage to property in your care | No | Sometimes |
| Pure financial loss caused by a professional error | No | Yes |
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.
Your tenant answers for use, you for condition
You can place maintenance tasks with the tenant in the lease, but that does not help against an injured visitor: Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code points to the owner . What you agree with the tenant determines at most whether you can recover the loss afterwards. So set out in every lease who reports what, within what time you respond, and keep that correspondence for each property.
Your managing agent's mistake comes back to you
If you have day-to-day management, lift inspections or gritting carried out by a third party, you remain answerable to the outside world. Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code makes the principal liable for the mistakes of non-subordinates in work carried out in the course of their business. So ask your managing agent for proof of insurance each year and set out in writing which tasks lie with whom.
Vacancy and renovation change the risk
An empty building is assessed differently from a let building: there is no day-to-day supervision, maintenance falls off and people come in who should not be there. A conversion also changes the use. Report both before they start. If you do not, the insurer can rely on Articles 7:928 and 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code when a claim arises.
Three things this policy does not solve
Damage to the building itself belongs with the buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) and not here. The cost of removing asbestos or remediating soil contamination falls outside the standard cover and calls for a separate environmental module. Loss of rent and missed rental income are not a third party's loss and are not paid. Contractual penalties under a lease or management agreement also fall outside the cover, because they go beyond what the law imposes on you.
Care, custody and control is excluded as standard
Damage to property that you have in your care — borrowed, hired, being worked on or held in safekeeping — is not covered by the standard cover. For professions where this is the core of the work, a separate care, custody and control module with its own limit is essential.
The traffic gap
Your AVB excludes damage caused with or by motor vehicles. It is precisely there that the Hoge Raad (the Dutch Supreme Court) recognised a separate liability based on the duty to act as a good employer: an employer must arrange proper insurance for employees who take part in traffic for work. A WEGAS insurance policy fills that gap.
What does your premium depend on?
- Number of properties in the portfolio — The schedule of properties is the basis; every purchase and sale is dealt with by amendment.
- Type of property — Homes, offices, shops and business units carry different visitor risks.
- Year of construction and state of maintenance — Older holdings with a maintenance backlog weigh more heavily in the assessment.
- Proportion of vacancy — Buildings without an occupier lack day-to-day supervision and are weighed separately.
- Own staff or outsourced management — With your own maintenance staff, employers' liability under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code also comes into play.
- Extensions chosen — An environmental module or care, custody and control cover increases the premium and widens the cover.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
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.
9.5New policy
9.8Claims handling
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.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
I let everything out; am I still liable?
Yes. Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code places liability for a defective building with the owner, not with the occupier. Your tenant is answerable for what they do themselves, for instance a dangerous display in the shop. For the structure, the installations and the communal areas it remains down to you, even if the lease places maintenance with the tenant.
Do I have to report each new property separately?
Yes. A portfolio policy works with a schedule of properties and that has to be up to date. Report purchases, sales, conversions and the onset of vacancy. An unreported property or a change of use affects your duty of disclosure under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code; if a claim arises the insurer can then rely on Article 7:930 DCC and reduce the payment.
What if my managing agent makes the mistake?
You remain answerable to the outside world. Article 6:171 of the Dutch Civil Code makes you liable for the mistakes of non-subordinates you engage in work carried out in the course of your business. Your insurer can then recover the loss from the managing agent or their insurer. So ask your managing agent for proof of insurance at the outset and each year thereafter.
Does this policy replace my buildings insurance?
No, they sit alongside each other. Buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) puts right damage to your own building after, for instance, a fire or a storm. Liability insurance pays for the loss others suffer through a defect in that building: injury to a visitor, damage to a tenant's property. Neither cover includes the other and both are needed.
Read more
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About our service
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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This page was written and checked by an adviser at Finass Verzekert. Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.