In brief

For commercial property there is no insurance obligation as there is for a motor vehicle. Even so, you can rarely avoid it. A mortgage lender almost always stipulates that the security is insured and that it is named on the policy as an interested party. If you let the property, the lease places the structural cover with you and the fit-out with the tenant. So anyone without cover first breaches a contract and only then harms their own interests.

The real argument lies in the time it takes to repair. A home that burns down costs you a roof over your head; business premises that burn down also cost you your production, your storage and your customers. Permits, demolition, tendering and rebuilding take months to years. That is why, for a business, the buildings cover should always be looked at together with a business interruption insurance and with the business contents insurance: three policies that have to be matched to the same indemnity period.

Apart from the material loss, as owner you carry a liability that does not depend on fault. Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code makes the owner of a defective building liable for the damage arising from it: a facade panel that comes loose, a canopy that gives way, a slippery works staircase. You do not have to have done anything wrong. That liability is not on the buildings policy but on your public and employers' liability insurance.

This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare buildings insurance (opstalverzekering).