Compensation for damage

When governmental decisions cause damage to your business, you may be eligible for disadvantage compensation in the form of financial compensation, a buy-out or in some other creative way, for example the award of a certain building right at a location of your choice. Special disadvantage compensation schemes are often established around large construction projects, such as the construction of the Betuwe line or the North-South metro connection in Amsterdam. Sooner or later, many companies will have to deal with temporary road closures, which will make the business less accessible or even impossible. However, whether you are eligible for compensation for disadvantage depends on various factors.

Enterprise risk

An important criterion is the answer to the question of whether the damage affects your company individually or whether there is a burden to be borne by many. If you can prove that your company has been hit excessively hard, you may be eligible for disadvantage compensation. If you are indeed eligible, then a number of calculation criteria apply and a deduction applies as a self-insured normal social risk or entrepreneurial risk. This deduction can amount to up to 40% of the total amount of damage to your company, depending on the circumstances of the case.
It will also be tested - among other things - whether you yourself have actively accepted a risk by, for example, hiring staff when there was a high chance that the loss of turnover could materialise, or whether you have failed to take reasonably necessary measures which have increased the damage. The amount of your damage claim will have to be properly substantiated with business figures, which usually requires the support of an accountant or bookkeeper. Important discussion points are whether you qualify and the calculation method and amount of your damage.