Combined policy · recovery · defence
AnsvarIdea Bewust liability and legal expenses insurance
Liability and legal expenses sit in one package here, but they are two different covers. One pays someone else's loss, the other pays for your legal help.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: AnsvarIdea Bewust aansprakelijkheidsverzekering en rechtsbijstand.
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
- We arrange the switch, including cancellation
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
The difference between the two parts is greater than the shared policy name suggests. The liability cover comes into play when you cause loss yourself and someone holds you responsible for it on the basis of Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code: your child kicks a ball through a window, your dog bites a passer-by (Article 6:179 of the Dutch Civil Code), a roof tile from your home blows onto a car (Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code). The insurer then pays the other party's loss. The legal expenses cover does the opposite: it puts a lawyer on the case when you want something from someone else, or when you have to defend yourself.
Finass compares several insurers objectively. AnsvarIdea is one of the insurers we can place business with. The choice follows from what you need to cover, not from the brand name. With a combined policy like this we look above all at the modules: traffic, consumer matters and home are usually included as standard, while employment and income, tax and assets, and divorce mediation often have to be chosen separately. A fuller explanation of the product is on the hub legal expenses insurance; the stand-alone product can be found at personal liability insurance.
Three limitations matter most with this type of policy. There is almost always a waiting period of several months for non-recovery cases, so you cannot bring a simmering conflict under the policy after the event. A dispute that already existed or was foreseeable when the policy was taken out falls outside the cover. And on the liability side, intent is excluded, in line with Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code; the same applies to loss you caused deliberately as part of a group.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare personal legal expenses insurance (rechtsbijstandverzekering).
What to look out for
Four points that decide whether this combination is really of use to you.
Two insured parties, one policy
If both parties to a conflict are on the same policy, for instance in a divorce or an argument between housemates, there is almost always an exclusion for disputes between insured parties. Some conditions do include a separate mediation arrangement. Check this in advance, because this is exactly the kind of conflict that comes up often and is almost never covered in the way people expect.
Free choice of lawyer in court proceedings
As soon as court or administrative proceedings are brought, you are entitled to a lawyer of your own choosing. That follows from Article 4:67 of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wft). Outside proceedings the insurer may have the case handled by its own in-house lawyers, and a ceiling applies to external costs. Ask about that ceiling before you instruct a lawyer of your own.
What the liability cover does not do
Damage to your own possessions is not liability. Loss caused with a motor vehicle falls under the motor policy and is excluded on the liability cover, as is loss connected with a profession or business. If you work from home on your own account, check whether that counts as business activity. If it does, you need business cover.
Report on time and report in full
For both liability and legal expenses, you must report an event as soon as you are reasonably aware of it; Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code sets that out. With legal expenses there is something more: if you instruct a lawyer yourself first, or sign a settlement, the insurer may refuse the costs that follow, because the case was run without it.
What does your premium depend on?
- Composition of the household: single person or a family with children living at home
- Modules chosen: traffic and consumer matters only, or employment and tax as well
- Owner-occupied or rented home: determines whether the home module is worthwhile
- Area of cover: the Netherlands, Europe or worldwide for recovery cases
- Threshold for the financial interest: small disputes are often not taken on
- Excess or personal contribution: sometimes only when an external lawyer is instructed
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Liability | Legal expenses |
|---|---|---|
| Your son kicks a ball through the neighbours' conservatory window and they send you the bill | Yes | No |
| You trip over a loose paving stone and want to hold the local authority liable | No | Yes |
| A contractor delivers a leaking dormer window and refuses to come back | No | Yes |
| Your bicycle blows over against the paintwork of a parked car | Yes | No |
| The neighbours submit building plans that take the light from your back room | No | Provided that |
| You want to object to an additional tax assessment from the Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority) | No | Provided that |
A single event can touch both sections as soon as the other party disputes your liability and you have suffered loss yourself as well.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Why are liability and legal expenses in one package?
Because they complement each other. If you cause loss, the liability cover pays. If you suffer loss caused by someone else and that person refuses to pay, the legal expenses cover puts a lawyer on the case to recover the amount. So they cover opposite situations. A package can be convenient administratively, but you can also take out the parts separately if the conditions elsewhere suit you better.
What is the waiting period and why does it exist?
The waiting period is the period after the policy starts during which new disputes are not yet taken on. It exists to prevent anyone taking out insurance at the moment the conflict is already running. For recovering loss after an accident the waiting period usually does not apply. The exact length is in the policy conditions and differs per insurer and per module.
Am I covered for a dispute with my employer?
Only if the employment and income module is included. Without that module a dismissal case, a dispute about a non-competition clause or a discussion about your pay falls outside the cover. For an employee this is often the module with the greatest practical value, because the costs of employment proceedings mount up quickly and the other side usually has legal support.
What if the insurer thinks my case has no chance?
It may then refuse to handle the case, but that is not the end of the road. Almost every policy has a disputes procedure: an independent lawyer assesses the position, and if that opinion goes in your favour the case is taken on after all, or you may instruct a lawyer yourself at the insurer's expense. Ask for that procedure in writing as soon as you disagree with the refusal.
Read more
Within Rechtsbijstandverzekering
- Rechtsbijstandverzekeringthe main page
- Avero achmea rechtsbijstandverzekering
- Business legal expenses insurance and how a case is handled
- Nationale nederlanden zakelijk rechtsbijstandverzekering bedrijven
- Rechtsbijstand mkb
- Klaverblad rechtsbijstandverzekering
- Nh1816 verkeer vakantie rechtsbijstandverzekering
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