Indication · what determines it · saving
What does an average insurance package cost?
There is no such thing as an average insurance package; what you pay each month depends on which policies you hold alongside one another and where they overlap.
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Wat kost een gemiddeld verzekeringspakket?.
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 your own premium with the calculator.
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.
What determines it
Your situation: owner-occupied or rented, with or without a car, household composition, and whether you are an employee or self-employed.
Your choices: excess, level of cover and which extensions you take.
With almost every general insurance policy there is 21 per cent insurance premium tax on top of the premium; health insurance is exempt from it.
Where the largest amounts sit
For most households the health insurance and the car insurance are the largest items. Home insurance follows after that.
For self-employed people, disability insurance is added, and that is often the largest item of all.
Where you really save
Not by switching but by reviewing your cover . Is comprehensive cover still right for your car? Is your contents sum still correct? Are you paying for extensions you do not use?
A a higher excess lowers the premium, provided you can afford that amount.
What not to do
Underinsuring in order to save. A sum insured that is too low means that at every a claim is paid proportionately, even a small one.
In brief
At portfolio level the questions are different from those for a single policy. Not: is this cover well priced, but: do I already have this cover somewhere else, and does it fit my life as it is now? A household builds up policies in the order in which life happens: liability insurance with the first home, motor insurance with the first car, travel insurance for a particular holiday. That whole is rarely ever looked at again as a whole.
For most households the largest items are fixed in a handful of policies: health insurance, motor insurance and home insurance. For self-employed people, disability insurance is added, which often exceeds all the other items put together. The rest of the package consists of smaller policies where the gain lies not in the premium but in the question of whether they still need to be there.
When comparing, allow for the insurance premium tax of 21 per cent that is added to the premium of virtually every general insurance policy; health insurance and life insurance are exempt from it. What is nowhere in the package, however many policies there are: wear and maintenance, depreciation, fines and damage you cause deliberately. If you want to work out a single policy, see what home contents insurance costs.
Where things go wrong in practice
The same cover is often on several policies
Legal expenses cover for road traffic is sometimes in the motor policy and sometimes in a separate legal expenses policy; assistance abroad is in the motor policy and in the travel insurance; annual travel insurance alongside credit card cover or the travel section of a package produces a double premium without a double payout. Set the policy schedules side by side and look section by section at who pays for what. Where two policies overlap you do not split it: you receive the loss once, and have insured it twice.
The number of policies says less than the number of sections
A package with eight policies can be cheaper than one with four, because within each policy modules have been ticked. Glass, cover away from home, a replacement vehicle, breakdown assistance in and outside the Netherlands, occupants' personal accident cover: those are separate items that are small individually and not small together. Go through your policy schedules along the line listing the sections and ask yourself of each one when you needed it, or could have needed it, in the past year.
Life events make cover superfluous or necessary
A car that gets older no longer justifies comprehensive cover at some point. Children who leave home often remain on your liability insurance for a while, and after that no longer. A shed you let out, a business at home or letting a room changes the home policies fundamentally and must be reported. A change like that is not an administrative detail: an unreported change of risk can lead to a claim being refused.
The notice period and payment method determine when you can move things
Most general insurance policies can be cancelled on any day after the first contract year with one month's notice, but there are products with a longer term or a fixed contract period. Paying monthly feels light and costs a surcharge with many insurers compared with paying annually. If you want to reorganise, start with the policy whose contract date falls first and only cancel once the replacement is confirmed in writing.
What does your premium depend on?
- The composition of your household — Single, a family with children or living together; that determines which policies are needed at all.
- An owner-occupied or a rented home — Buildings insurance goes with ownership; with a rented home only the tenant's improvements remain, within the contents policy.
- Transport in the household — The number of cars, their age and type of cover, plus bicycles, scooters and trailers.
- Employee or self-employed — Self-employed people bear the income risk themselves; disability insurance is then usually the largest item.
- Overlapping sections — Legal expenses, assistance and travel cover ticked on several policies at once.
- Insurance premium tax and payment frequency — 21 per cent on virtually every general insurance policy, plus the difference between monthly and annual payment.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
Read more
Within Insurance packages
Similar pages
Also relevant
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
What is a normal amount per month for a household?
No sensible figure can be given for that. Two households in the same street can be far apart because one has an owner-occupied home, two cars and a self-employed member and the other rents and travels by public transport. An average does not help you; the comparison that does say something is between your current package and the same package at other insurers.
Do I get a discount if I place everything with one insurer?
Often yes: many insurers have a package benefit that rises with the number of policies. Do check the figures, because a package benefit on a policy that is expensive in itself gains you nothing on balance. Also consider the convenience of a single point of contact and the risk that in a dispute you are with the same party for all your cover at once.
Do I pay insurance premium tax on all my policies?
On virtually all general insurance policies you do, at 21 per cent on top of the premium. Exceptions include health insurance, life insurance and disability insurance. The amount is stated separately on your policy schedule. When comparing quotations, check whether the premium shown includes or excludes that tax, otherwise you are comparing two different things.
Where does the real saving lie?
Usually not in switching but in cutting. Duplicate legal expenses cover, two travel covers, comprehensive cover on an old car and sections you ticked years ago cost more together than the difference between two providers. Go through your policy schedules once a year along the line listing the sections. What you still need after that can then be compared on premium and conditions.
What is covered and what is not
What is covered
| Situation | Basic package | Extended package |
|---|---|---|
| Your child breaks a window at the neighbours' | Yes | Yes |
| A break-in in which your laptop and jewellery disappear | Yes | Yes |
| A dispute with your employer about your dismissal | No | Yes |
| You break a leg just before departure and have to cancel the trip | No | Provided that |
| Dental treatment after a fall in the street | Provided that | Yes |
| As a self-employed person you are unable to work for a year through illness | No | No |
What you pay each month depends less on the number of policies than on the sections you tick within each one.