As soon as a kitchen, a bar and guests staying overnight are added, the risk profile of a leisure business changes fundamentally: fire starts indoors, and food and drink bring their own liability.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
This page is about businesses that combine accommodation, entertainment and hospitality: hotels, guest houses, restaurants on a park, beach pavilions, group accommodation with its own kitchen and attractions with a catering function. What sets it apart from an ordinary leisure business is the kitchen. Grease, naked flames and extraction ducts are the biggest cause of fire in this sector, and insurers set concrete prevention conditions against them.
You also supply a product that people eat and drink. If a guest contracts food poisoning, product liability under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Codecomes into play: as a producer you are liable for a defective product, regardless of blame. That is a different standard from the duty of care test that applies to a defect on the site, and it calls for a demonstrable HACCP plan with temperature records.
Overnight accommodation also brings its own obligations: fire alarm system, escape routes, cloakroom and guests' property in the room. Those fall within care, custody and control and call for an express extension, not a standard policy.
What does insurance for tourism, leisure and hospitality cover?
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.
Kitchen, grease extraction and fryers determine the fire premium
Insurers almost always link fire cover for a commercial kitchen to prevention requirements: periodic cleaning of the extraction duct with a certificate, a fire blanket and firefighting equipment in the right place, thermal protection on the fryer and an inspected installation. If you cannot produce the cleaning certificate after a fire, that is an independent ground for limiting the payment. Keep those certificates with the policy.
Spoilage and refrigeration failure
In a power cut or with a faulty cold room, stock is lost and you sometimes have to close. Spoilage is not automatically part of goods cover. It is a separate extension, often with a requirement that the refrigeration has an alarm. Combine it with business interruption cover, because the closure that follows costs more than the stock thrown away.
Serving alcohol and the duty of care towards guests
If you serve alcohol, an incident will be assessed against your duty of care: continuing to serve a visibly drunk guest, supervision on the terrace and on the way out. That touches both public and employers' liability through Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and liability for the conduct of your staff through Article 6:170 of the Dutch Civil Code. Put house rules and instructions to serving staff in writing.
What is not covered
The following are generally outside the cover: fire damage in the kitchen without an up-to-date cleaning certificate for the extraction duct; theft from hotel rooms without forced entry or without use of the safe; spoilage through refrigeration switched off unnoticed; fines from regulators after a food safety or alcohol licensing inspection; and loss of turnover through a negative review or a temporary closure without physical damage.
What does your premium depend on?
Presence and type of kitchen. A full kitchen with a fryer, a small kitchen or drinks only make a large difference to the fire risk.
Overnight capacity. Sleeping guests raise the fire safety requirements and the liability on evacuation.
Annual turnover and the split between accommodation, food and drink. The turnover mix determines both the exposure and the basis of the business interruption cover.
Fire prevention. Compartmentation, fire alarm system, suppression system and the cleaning regime for the extraction.
Payroll including seasonal and on-call staff. Serving and kitchen staff count towards liability, sickness absence and accidents.
Terrace, windbreaks and outdoor furniture. Items vulnerable to storm and vandalism that have to be declared separately.
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.
As the producer of the meal you can be liable under Article 6:185 of the Dutch Civil Code for a defective product, even without blame. A demonstrable HACCP plan with temperature records and use-by checks is then your main defence, and at the same time a condition insurers impose. Without records it is hard to show that the defect did not arise with you.
Is hotel guests' property insured?
Guests' property is not yours and falls under care, custody and control, which is excluded as standard. It can be included with its own maximum, often tied to the requirement that a safe is available and that theft involves signs of forced entry. Arrange this expressly if you also offer a cloakroom or luggage storage.
What if I am closed for months after a fire?
Business interruption cover then carries the fixed costs and the gross profit lost, within the indemnity period chosen. At a combined accommodation and hospitality business bookings run far ahead, so allow a generous period and take the seasonal pattern into account. Additional costs of operating temporarily elsewhere can be included separately.
Does my terrace count as business premises?
For liability, yes: the terrace forms part of the site you manage and falls under the buildings liability in Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code. For physical cover you have to declare furniture, parasols, windbreaks and patio heaters separately, because they are outside and vulnerable to storms. If they are missing from the policy, that damage remains for your own account.
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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