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One fire policy for your building, your contents and your equipment.

You tell us by chat what you have, we put it into one policy.

What does commercial fire insurance cover?

More than fire alone. The policy usually also covers storm, water damage and glass breakage, and it breaks down into a few parts you put together yourself — theft is one of them.

  • Your building, as owner or as tenant. If you rent, you are liable for the premises you occupy, and that is a different cover from your landlord’s.
  • Your contents: stock, working equipment, fit-out and what is in the till.
  • Your electronics, which an all-risks policy covers more broadly than fire alone.
  • Your mobile plant, for machines that go onto public roads or onto sites.

Where it most often goes wrong in practice is not the cover but the amounts. A policy drawn up years ago often still covers contents that are no longer there and a building that cannot be rebuilt for that figure.

And then there is the part that is missing most often. After a fire you have not only lost your things, you are also at a standstill. Business interruption cover absorbs the loss of income for the period you cannot work, and that is usually what really puts a business at risk.

If customers’ goods are stored with you, that is another question again. They do not simply fall under your contents.

What we work out in that conversation

You tell us what you have: whether you rent or own, how large your premises are, what is inside in stock, equipment and electronics, and whether there are third-party goods among them.

On that basis we set the amounts. That is the most important work on a fire policy, because an amount that is too low means you are only partly compensated when there is a claim.

Because we are a broker and not an insurer, we have no policy of our own to sell. We go to the market and explain where the differences lie. In fire insurance those differences are mostly in the excess, in how the compensation is calculated and in which cover comes as standard or not.

We also look at whether business interruption cover makes sense in your case, and for what period.

If a policy is already running, we will tell you whether the amounts still match what is in your premises today.

Everything runs through chat and stays in the same conversation. If you rebuild, if equipment is added or if there is a loss, you pick up the thread where you left it.

How to start

  1. You send a message through the chat on this page.

  2. You answer a few targeted questions about your premises. No long questionnaire.

  3. You get a tailored proposal usually within two working days, explaining what is covered, up to what amount, and what is not in the policy.

  4. If you agree, you confirm the proposal.

What a conversation with Ōmata looks like

You do not need to know which policy you are looking for, and there is no form to fill in.

Start your request

Viktor is online

You are talking to an AI assistant. You can ask for a human colleague to take over at any time.

  • CustomerThere has been a fire in the kitchen. The business is closed, what now?
  • ŌmataReport it to your insurer right away and leave everything untouched until the insurer’s expert has been. Photograph what you see. Do you have business interruption cover in your fire policy?
  • CustomerNo idea. We have fire insurance through the building owner.
  • ŌmataThen that probably covers the building, but not your contents or your loss of turnover. How long do you expect to stay closed?
  • CustomerAt least three weeks, the kitchen needs to be fully rebuilt.
  • ŌmataNoted. Send me your policy — I will pass this on to our expert as urgent. You will hear from us usually within two working days.

Try it yourself

Who this is for

Anyone with a place where the business happens: a shop, a workshop, an office, a warehouse. Whether you rent it or own it.

  • Shops and hospitality

    Stock, fit-out and refrigeration, and a closed door that costs revenue at once.

  • Production and workshops

    Machines with months of lead time and production that cannot simply move elsewhere.

  • Offices and service firms

    Often underestimated: the files, the equipment and the place to work.

  • Wholesale and storage

    Where the value sits in the stock, and that stock swings with the season.

  • Owners letting to a business

    Your building, your tenant’s risk and the rent that stops after a loss.

Who this is not for

  • Anyone working entirely from home without premises of their own. Your home policy is the base. Do tell them you work there and what equipment is present: professional equipment is limited or excluded as standard.
  • Anyone with no goods and no fixed place. A business happening entirely at clients with tools in a van is better off insuring that van and that equipment.
  • Anyone already covered on the owner’s policy. Some leases have the owner insure the building and waive recovery. Read that before taking out a second policy.
  • Anyone with only digital assets. If everything is in the cloud and there is no physical stock, your risk sits more in cyber insurance.

What commercial fire insurance covers

Commercial fire insurance usually covers the building, the contents and the goods against fire, explosion, storm and hail, water damage, glass breakage, electrical damage and natural disasters. Property owner’s liability comes with it, and the section that weighs heaviest in practice: business interruption.

  • The building The structure, the fixed installations and what is permanently attached.

    The main item as an owner, often limited as a tenant.

  • Contents and goods Machines, fit-out, tools and stock.

    In seasonal businesses the item most often set too low.

  • Business interruption The lost revenue and the fixed costs that keep running while you are closed.

    The section most often missing and worth the most money.

  • Storm, water and glass breakage The claims that occur far more often than fire, and together make up most files.
  • Electrical damage Surge and short circuit, and what fails because of them.

    The section to check for anyone working with electronics.

  • Natural disasters Flooding, earthquake and landslide.

    For a simple risk these are compulsorily included with the fire cover in Belgium; for a production or storage risk they are not automatic.

  • Property owner’s liability The damage your premises cause to third parties, such as fire spreading to the neighbour.

What commercial fire insurance does not cover

Not covered are machinery breakdown without an external cause, IT equipment outside a separate section, goods in transit and ordinary wear. Nor is theft without a separate section, or damage from a defect you already knew about.

  • Machinery breakdown A machine failing from within — a broken shaft, a burnt-out motor — does not fall under fire.

    A separate machinery breakdown policy exists for that.

  • IT equipment and electronics Servers, computers and measuring equipment usually sit in their own “electronics all risks” section with its own limit.

    Without it, cover is limited.

  • Goods in transit What is in a van or with a haulier falls outside the building policy.

    A transit policy exists for that.

  • Theft without a separate section Theft is not a standard part of a fire policy.

    It is added, with conditions about locks, alarms and burglary resistance.

  • Wear and defects A roof that has leaked for years, an installation not maintained.

    The policy insures a sudden event, not deferred maintenance.

Just ask

Business interruption: the building burns, but the standstill costs more

After a fire the question is rarely how the building gets repaired. Money solves that. The real question is what happens in the six or twelve months you cannot work.

Your rent keeps running. Your staff stay employed. Your leases, your insurances and your subscriptions keep running. And meanwhile your customers go to someone else — and some of them do not come back.

Underinsurance and average

Insure for less than the real value and the insurer pays proportionally when there is a claim. That is the average rule, and it is the mechanism that causes the most disappointment after a loss.

An example in round figures. Suppose your building is worth a million and you insure it for half a million. There is a hundred thousand of damage. You do not get a hundred thousand but fifty thousand: you were insured for half, so you get half. With partial damage that is the scenario — and partial damage is the rule.*

What determines the price

A figure without your details is a guess. What determines the premium, we can list.

  • Value to insure

    Building, contents and goods together, at replacement value.

  • Activity

    A chip shop, a sawmill and an office are three classes.

  • Construction

    Materials, compartmentation and the distance to the neighbours.

  • Business interruption

    The chosen period weighs more than any other element.

  • Prevention

    Sprinklers, fire detection, alarms and inspection certificates.

  • Excess

    What you carry yourself per claim.

Frequently asked questions

I rent my premises. What do I need to insure myself?

Your own contents, your goods, your business interruption and your tenant’s liability. That last one is what gets forgotten: as a tenant you are liable to the owner for damage to the premises unless you can show the fault was not yours. Also check what happens to the fit-out you paid for.

What if I cannot work for weeks?

That is what business interruption cover is for: it pays the fixed costs that keep running and the lost result for an agreed period. Choose that period on the basis of how long it would realistically take you to run as before, including permits and lead times. That is almost always longer than what the policy says.

How do I know whether I am underinsured?

Compare the sum insured with what it would cost today to rebuild and rebuy everything. If it is lower, the insurer pays proportionally: insured for half means paid for half. A valuation grid and indexation solve that; have it reviewed after every conversion or major investment.

Is machinery breakdown included?

No. A machine failing from within — a broken shaft, a burnt-out motor — does not fall under a fire policy. A separate machinery breakdown policy exists for that. Anyone running on a few critical machines should look at it alongside business interruption.

What about my IT and server room?

Electronics usually sit in a separate “electronics all risks” section, with its own limit and broader cover than fire alone. Without that section your IT equipment is barely covered. For the data itself and an attack from outside, cyber insurance is the right policy.

Is my stock in transit covered?

Not by the fire policy on your building. Goods in a van or with a haulier fall under a transit policy. Mention it if there is regularly value on the road; it is a small policy with a large difference.

Who is behind Ōmata?

Ōmata Insurance is the AI-first studio of the Induver group and a sister company of Group Induver NV: two companies within the same group, not parent and subsidiary. Ōmata puts you in touch with Group Induver NV, an insurance broker holding FSMA number 016880; that is where the advice and the policy come about. The full identification is set out in the legal notices.

About Ōmata

Ōmata is the AI-first insurance studio of Group Induver. You tell us what you want to insure over chat; usually within two working days you receive a proposal, drawn up by an insurance broker at Group Induver NV, registered with the FSMA under number 016880.

Read on

Ready to start?

Send us a message and tell us briefly what you want to insure. You get an immediate reply and your proposal usually within two working days.

Notes on the asterisks on this page
  • This worked example illustrates only the mechanism of the average (proportionality) rule, not a rate or premium. Some policies include clauses that soften or lift the rule; check this for your own policy.