Sickness absence insurance (verzuimverzekering) for garage businesses
In a workshop your turnover hangs on qualifications and pairs of hands: if an MOT tester or diagnostic specialist drops out, part of your schedule comes to a halt.
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
A garage business does not insure an average. You insure a small, specialised team in which the technician with the EV qualification, the damage assessor and the MOT tester each account for their own part of the turnover. The absence of one of them cannot be absorbed by making the others work harder.
Sickness absence insurance (verzuimverzekering) covers the wages you must continue to pay that employee. What it does not cover is the gap in your schedule: missed inspections, postponed services and hiring in a seconded technician remain at your expense.
Also pay attention to who is actually on the policy. Owners who work in the business and a director and majority shareholder without compulsory insurance are usually excluded. Their income runs through a disability insurance.
What does sickness absence insurance cover for garage businesses?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Two years
Continued payment of wages
What you are legally required to continue paying.
First year one hundred per cent
Second year seventy per cent
A collective labour agreement may require more
The waiting period
Own retention
How many days you bear yourself.
Shorter is more expensive
Longer brings the premium down
Choose according to what you can bear
Optional
Support and case handling
Guidance with reintegration.
Case management
Gatekeeper Act monitoring
Risk of a wage sanction
What is covered
Situation
Conventional
Full-service option
Continued payment of wages during sickness
Yes
Yes
Guidance with reintegration
No
Yes
Risk of a wage sanction borne by the insurer
No
Yes
Occupational health services included
No
Sometimes
Cost of replacing a member of staff who is off sick
No
No
Sickness absence that already existed at inception
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.
Qualifications belong to people, not to the business
A company's MOT accreditation is worthless without a tester who is authorised to carry out inspections. If your only tester is off work long term, you can no longer sign off inspections and you also lose the customers who would have come back for servicing afterwards. The same applies to the trained technician allowed to work on the high-voltage systems of electric cars. The policy covers their wages, not your downtime.
With a small team your absence rate is not a statistic
Insurers calculate with absence percentages, but with a small team one long-term case is enough to colour your history for years. That carries through to the renewal of your contract. So consider whether you want to shorten the waiting period to absorb short-term absence, or lengthen it and accept that you pay the first weeks of every case entirely yourself.
Workshop injuries and the other side of the same report
Trapped fingers, injuries while working under a lift and back complaints from lifting tyres and wheels are the classic causes. Your absence policy pays out regardless of the cause. But after an accident in the workshop the employee can also hold you liable under Article 7:658 of the Dutch Civil Code; that claim runs through your liability insurance and not through this policy.
What falls outside the cover
Excluded are: the income of an owner or director and majority shareholder who is not subject to compulsory insurance, loss of turnover from a workshop standing idle, and the costs of a hired replacement. Absence already running on the start date is not covered either. If you do not declare current cases of illness at the start, the duty of disclosure under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code comes into play and the insurer can refuse the payment.
What does your premium depend on?
Size of the team. With few employees, absence is hard to spread, which insurers reflect in a loading.
Split between workshop and reception and sales. Physical work at the lift weighs more heavily than work at the desk or in sales.
Payroll. The annual wage bill of your staff is the basis; apprentices and day-release trainees count as soon as they receive wages.
Absence history of recent years. In a small business, one long-running case weighs on the percentage for years.
Waiting period chosen. If you can bear a few weeks of wages yourself, a longer waiting period gives an immediate premium advantage.
Full support or not. Without an HR function, case management by the insurer is often worthwhile. It raises the premium but shifts the sanction risk.
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.
Usually not. Sickness absence insurance covers wages you continue to pay to employees subject to compulsory insurance. An owner in a sole trader business or general partnership, and a director and majority shareholder without compulsory insurance, are not among them. For your own income in the event of incapacity for work you take out separate disability insurance (AOV). With a private limited company, always have your exact position checked.
Does the policy cover loss of turnover if the workshop stands idle?
No. The insurance pays out on the basis of the wages you continue to pay, not on the basis of the turnover you miss. Missed inspections, postponed services and the costs of a seconded technician remain at your expense. If you want to cover that, ask the insurer about an additional allowance for replacement costs.
What if my only MOT tester is off work long term?
The insurance continues to pay their wages after the waiting period, but it does not solve the qualification problem. Without a qualified tester you cannot sign off inspections. Make sure a second technician has the training, or agree an arrangement in advance with a fellow business. That is an organisational measure, not insurance cover.
Do day-release apprentices and interns count?
A day-release apprentice with a combined work and training contract receives wages, is on your payroll and is therefore covered in principle. An intern with only an internship allowance usually falls outside it, because there is no obligation to continue paying wages during illness. Declare both groups at the start, so that the insurer sets the wage bill and the cover correctly.
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.
