Pile rot · subsidence · what is and is not covered
Buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) and foundation damage
Damage to foundations is rarely a question of cover and almost always a question of causation: what determines the payment is not what is broken, but what broke it.
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In brief
Buildings insurance covers damage caused by a a sudden and unforeseen event. Pile rot, settlement through drought, negative skin friction and differential settlement meet none of those tests: they are processes that unfold over years. That is why they appear not as an exception in the small print but as a standard exclusion in virtually every policy, whether you have chosen extended or all-risks.
What can be covered is damage to foundations as a result of a covered cause. A burst mains water pipe that washes away the sand under a strip of foundation, or an impact against a load-bearing structure, are sudden events. The question the assessor then answers is whether the building would have shown the same cracks without that event.
There is also a third route that has nothing to do with your own policy: liability. Dewatering for a building pit next door, piling work, a leaking sewer main belonging to the local authority or a changed groundwater level can produce a liable party under Article 6:162 or 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code. That route stands or falls with evidence you gather beforehand.
What does buildings insurance cover for foundation damage?
The structure of the cover in three parts, with an overview per situation below.
Most chosen
Extended cover
The named perils: fire, storm, water, burglary and collision.
Fire, smoke and lightning strike
Storm from force 7 upwards
Water damage and leakage
Burglary damage
Widest form of cover
Comprehensive
All sudden and unforeseen damage from outside, unless excluded.
Unnamed causes included
A small mishap while doing DIY
Less discussion when you claim
The essentials
Basis of value
Rebuild value with a guarantee against underinsurance, or a valuation.
Rebuild value calculator
Valuation under 7:960 DCC
Guarantee on your policy schedule
What is covered
Situation
Extended
Comprehensive
Fire, smoke and lightning damage
Yes
Yes
Storm damage from force 7 upwards
Yes
Yes
Water damage from a burst pipe
Yes
Yes
Burglary damage to doors and frames
Yes
Yes
Drilling through a pipe while doing DIY
No
Yes
Subsidence, pile rot and deferred maintenance
No
No
This overview is general in nature and is not personal advice. What is actually covered, including exclusions, limits and the excess, is set out in the policy conditions and the insurance card (verzekeringskaart) of the insurer; you receive both before you take out cover. Taking out cover without advice? Then read what execution only means for you.
Where things go wrong in practice
Four points that make the difference between a policy that pays out and one that does not.
Separate the cause from the damage pattern
Cracks above window sills, sticking doors and a sloping floor are symptoms, not causes. Where a property on strip foundations settles through drought, there is no cover; with the same cracks after a burst pipe there may be. So always ask the assessor for a finding on the mechanism and not only on the repair. Without an identified sudden event there is nothing to hang the claim on, however large the damage.
Record the baseline before the neighbours start
If demolition, piling or dewatering is taking place next door, have a structural pre-condition survey carried out beforehand, with crack-width measurements, photographs and levelling. That report is later your only means of showing that the damage is new. A contractor facing a claim under Article 6:162 DCC almost always argues that the property was already out of true. Also report the damage itself in good time; Article 7:941 DCC requires you to report it as soon as you are aware of it.
A known defect in the foundations must be declared
If you know of a foundation survey, a repair plan or an enforcement letter from the local authority, that falls under the duty of disclosure in Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code. Withholding it gives grounds for reliance on Article 7:930 DCC on a later claim, and that affects not only the foundations but possibly the whole policy. A pre-purchase survey mentioning pile rot counts too. Declare it when you apply, even where the repair has not yet been carried out.
What falls away even on an all-risks policy
Repair of the foundations themselves, underpinning or installing a new foundation beam is not eligible for payment. The same applies to a fall in the value of the home, to damage from deferred maintenance to the crawl space and to rising groundwater or flooding from open water. Additional costs such as temporary accommodation are only paid where the underlying damage is covered, and with repairs to foundations that is precisely not the case.
Some insurers offer a module
The choice is limited and strict conditions and waiting periods apply. We find out whether that is possible in your region and for your type of foundation.
A guarantee against underinsurance is not automatic
If you fill in the insurer's rebuild value calculator correctly, you will usually receive a guarantee against underinsurance: in the event of a claim the actual amount is paid, even if the sum insured turns out to be too low. Your policy schedule states whether you have that guarantee. Without it, the proportionality rule applies, and that also affects small claims.
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Because buildings insurance is built around sudden and unforeseen events. Fire is an event with a moment; settlement is a process that takes years and that, in settlement-prone areas, statistically occurs almost with certainty. A risk that affects virtually everyone cannot be carried by a premium based on incidents. That is why it appears as a standard exclusion in the conditions.
So when is damage to foundations covered?
When it is the demonstrable result of a covered event. The best-known example is a burst pipe that washes soil away from under the foundations, after which part of the property settles. An impact against a load-bearing structure or an explosion can also qualify. The assessor then has to establish that the damage pattern would not have arisen without that event.
The neighbours are building and my home is cracking. Who pays for that?
Possibly the contractor or the client, under Article 6:162 DCC. Your own buildings insurance usually provides no cover here, so recovery is the only route. It stands or falls with a structural pre-condition survey from before the start, with crack measurements and levelling. Report the damage to the contractor in writing as soon as you see it, and have the measurements repeated.
Do I have to declare a known foundation problem when I apply?
Yes. Everything you know about the foundations falls under the duty of disclosure in Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code: survey reports, a repair plan, correspondence with the local authority or a pre-purchase survey mentioning settlement. If you withhold it, the insurer can rely on Article 7:930 DCC on a later claim and reduce or refuse payment, even for damage unrelated to the foundations.
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.
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