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 situation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
The Bewust holiday home insurance (recreatiewoningverzekering) covers the holiday home, chalet or bungalow itself and, if you wish, the contents kept there permanently. Unlike your main home, it is rarely checked from day to day: a leak in November is discovered in March. Insurers translate that into unoccupancy clauses, inspection requirements and a frost clause. That is where this policy differs from an ordinary buildings insurance.
The second question is use. Do you use the house yourself, do you let family stay there, or do you rent it out through a holiday park or a platform? Letting to changing guests alters the risk of fire, theft and water damage and must be declared in advance; for that there is also the buildings insurance for homes that are let. Permanent occupation is excluded on virtually every holiday home policy.
As the owner you are liable under Article 6:174 DCC of the Dutch Civil Code for damage caused by a defect in the building: a loose roof panel, a rotten terrace, a fence that blows over. That liability is not covered by the buildings section but by personal liability insurance (AVP). It weighs more heavily when you let the property, because people you do not know are then on the site.
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Basic cover
The basic cover insures the core of your Bewust holiday home insurance. We set out what Ansvar Idea and other insurers offer within it.
Fire & lightning strike
Storm & precipitation
Explosion & induction & implosion
Smoke & soot damage
Extended cover
As well as the basic cover, also protection against damage to your holiday home from external causes you cannot prevent.
Fire and storm damage
Theft and burglary
Water damage & leaks
Glass breakage
Comprehensive cover
The most complete cover. We compare Ansvar Idea's extended version with the market.
Hail damage
Damage through your own fault
Rebuilding at rebuild value
Unknown party at fault
What is covered
Situation
Standard
With extension
Fire, smoke and lightning strike
Yes
Yes
Storm from force 7 upwards
Yes
Yes
Water damage from a burst pipe
Yes
Yes
Glass breakage
Provided it is declared
Yes
Groundwater coming through the floor
No
No
Wear and deferred maintenance
No
No
What we do
What we do
At Finass
Direct with Ansvar
Comparison across several insurers
Yes
No
Advice based on your own situation
Yes
Sometimes
One point of contact for claims
Yes
Sometimes
Cancellation with your current insurer arranged
Yes
No
We determine whether Ansvar is the best choice
Yes
No
Advice fees for you as a customer
No
No
This overview concerns our service, not the cover. What is actually covered is set out in the policy conditions and on the insurer's insurance card (verzekeringskaart); you receive both before you take out cover.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
The frost clause is a genuine condition
In the winter season, policy conditions usually require you to drain the water pipes and empty the system, or to keep the heating demonstrably running at a minimum setting. If a pipe bursts while neither has been done, the damage is not covered, however extensive the water damage turns out to be. Record when the house was made ready for winter and by whom.
Declare letting in advance
Letting is a change of risk. If, after a fire or a theft, it becomes clear that changing guests were staying in the house without this being stated on the policy, the insurer may reduce or refuse the payout under Article 7:930 DCC of the Dutch Civil Code. Damage caused by the guests themselves also often falls outside the cover, or carries a separate excess for letting periods.
Maintenance, wet rot and vermin
Timber chalets, thatched roofs and wooden terraces need maintenance. Rot, weathering, sagging beams, damage by house longhorn beetle or other vermin, and leaks through worn roof covering are excluded: these are gradual processes, not sudden events. Damage that arises because a defect was known about for some time and was not repaired also remains at your expense.
Storm hits the loose parts first
Storm damage often carries a separate excess and restrictions for items not permanently attached to the house: an awning, a sun blind, a veranda, a shed, garden furniture and the fencing. Trees blown down on the plot are usually only paid for in so far as they cause damage to the building, not for clearing away or replacing the planting itself.
Burglary & vacancy
Letting
What does your premium depend on?
Rebuild value of the property. What it costs to rebuild the house or chalet on the same spot is the basis.
Construction type and roof covering. Timber, thatch or brick determine the fire risk. A chalet is assessed differently from a brick bungalow.
Location and supervision. A supervised, managed holiday park differs from a solitary house in woodland with no neighbours.
Use and letting. Own use only, use by family, or letting to changing guests each give a different risk profile.
Length of the vacancy. The longer the house stands empty outside the season, the more weight the conditions carry.
Cover and excess chosen. Limited named-perils cover or comprehensive cover, often with its own excess for storm.
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.
You may, but it must be stated on the policy. Letting to changing guests increases the risk of fire, water damage and theft, and some insurers accept it only subject to conditions or with a higher excess. If you do not declare it and it comes to light after a claim, the insurer may reduce or refuse the payout.
What if the pipes freeze in winter?
That depends on whether you complied with the frost clause. It usually requires the water pipes to have been drained and the system emptied, or the heating to be left running at a minimum setting. If you met that requirement, frost damage is a covered event. If you did not, the consequential damage to floors and contents also goes unpaid.
Are the contents of the holiday home included?
Not automatically. The buildings cover applies to the building. For the fixed furnishings, the crockery, the television and the garden furniture you take out a separate holiday home contents section. It usually has lower sub-limits than ordinary home contents insurance (inboedelverzekering), precisely because nobody is there for long periods and theft outside the season is discovered late.
May someone live in the holiday home permanently?
Not in insurance terms. Permanent occupation is excluded on these policies, regardless of what the local authority says about the zoning plan. If someone does live there permanently, for example while your own house is being renovated, declare it; otherwise the cover will be called into question at the next claim.
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.
