Insuring a garage box
Whether you need a separate policy depends on how the unit is owned: your own plot, an apartment right in a block of units, or a tenancy.
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On your own plot
A garage or store beside your home usually falls under your buildings insurance, as an outbuilding. Check that it has been declared; otherwise a limited maximum often applies.
A separate unit elsewhere
A garage unit in a block of units is a a separate object with its own insurance. Your home policy does not cover it.
If the unit stands in a block with a VvE, that association often insures the building. What you installed yourself is owner's interest.
What is kept in it
The contents is not automatically covered by your home contents insurance if the garage is not part of your home. Tools, tyres, a motorcycle or storage must be declared separately.
Is there a vehicle, then it is covered by the vehicle insurance, not by the buildings or contents policy.
Where it is used for business
Do you use the garage as workshop or for business storage, that is not private use. It changes the risk class and must be reported; undeclared business use is a ground for refusing a claim.
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Within Opstalverzekering
- Opstalverzekeringthe main page
- Opstalverzekering garage werkplaats
- Your own garage box: why buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) is needed
- Opstalverzekering voor je garagebox is het verplicht en wat dekt het
- Garage of garagebox verzekeren alles wat je moet weten over de opstalverzekering
- Oom verzekeringen opstalverzekering garagebox verzekering zakelijk
- Damage to your lock-up: what buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) does and does not cover
Similar pages
- Insuring a garage box or workshop
- Your own garage box: why buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) is needed
- Buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) for a garage box: is it compulsory and what does it cover?
- Buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) for a garage box
- Insuring a business lock-up through OOM Verzekeringen
- Insuring a garage or lock-up: what buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) does and does not do
- Damage to your lock-up: what buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) does and does not cover
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We look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
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You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
Switching without hassle
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
Help with claims
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
In brief
The question of whether you need buildings insurance for a garage unit is really a question of ownership. If the unit stands on your own plot beside the home, it is usually included as an outbuilding, provided it has been declared. If it stands separately, three streets away, it is an independent object and your home policy does not.
In a block of units it is different. The unit is then usually an apartment right and the owners' association insures the building as a whole. What you installed yourself (a partition, a better door, wiring, a floor) is owner's interest and falls outside that communal policy. If you rent the unit, the landlord insures the structure and only your own interest remains.
This page is about the unit as a place to park and store. If you are going to do repairs, welding or business work there, the use changes and with it the risk class. You can read about that on insuring a garage unit or workshop.
Where things go wrong in practice
First the form of ownership, then the policy
An attached garage beside your home falls under the buildings insurance for the house, but only if the outbuilding has been declared; otherwise a limited maximum often applies. A separate unit on your own land calls for an independent buildings policy with its own address. A unit in a block with a VvE is usually already insured on the communal policy; double insurance then makes no sense, because Article 7:960 DCC prohibits payment above the amount of the loss.
The contents are not included with your home contents cover
A home contents insurance covers the belongings in and around your home, not those in a unit standing apart from it. Winter tyres, tools, garden furniture and camping gear are therefore uninsured there unless you declare them separately. If a car, motorcycle or caravan is kept there, that damage runs through the vehicle policy with own-damage cover; the buildings or contents insurance does nothing there. Theft without signs of forced entry is, moreover, almost always rejected.
You own a building, and the liability that goes with it
As the possessor of a structure you are liable for defects in it under Article 6:174 DCC. If a roof sheet blows loose and damages the neighbour's car, or brickwork falls on a passer-by, that is your risk. That is not damage to the structure but liability. That claim belongs on your liability insurance, and where the unit is let, on a commercial version.
Report vacancy, maintenance and letting
A unit that stands unused for months is a different risk to an insurer: burglary is discovered later and a leak can continue for a long time. If the unit stands empty or you let it to a third party, you must report this. If you do not, Articles 7:928 and 7:930 DCCcome into play. Damage from deferred maintenance, rusting through and slowly penetrating damp is excluded as excluded.
What does your premium depend on?
- Construction type and roof covering. Brick with a hard roof covering works out more favourably than timber, corrugated sheeting or a bituminous roof.
- Rebuild value and floor area. The sum insured follows from the cost of rebuilding the unit, not from what you paid for it.
- Location of the unit. Free-standing at the edge of a neighbourhood or in an enclosed block with an access gate makes a difference to the burglary risk.
- Use of the space. Parking and storage only is a different class from working there or storing goods for third parties.
- Security of the door. An up-and-over door with a sound lock and lighting around it counts towards the rate.
- Excess and claims history. Previous burglary or storm claims and the excess chosen per event also determine the premium.
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Does my garage unit fall under my home policy?
Only if it stands on the same plot as your home and has been declared as an outbuilding. A unit at another location is an independent object and falls outside your home policy. Also check the maximum that applies to outbuildings. If the garage was never named separately, the payment can be limited to that.
Who insures the unit in a block of units with a VvE?
The VvE insures the building as a whole, including the structure of your unit. What you installed yourself (wiring, a floor, a partition, a heavier door) is owner's interest and falls outside it. Ask for the policy and the division regulations and insure only the difference; double insurance produces no extra payment.
Is the car in the unit included?
No. A vehicle is insured through its own policy, and then only with third-party, fire and theft or comprehensive cover. If the unit burns out, the buildings insurance pays for the building and the vehicle insurance for the car or motorcycle. If the vehicle only has third-party liability cover, there is no payment at all for the vehicle itself.
Are the contents of the unit insured?
Not automatically. With a separate unit you have to declare the contents separately; otherwise tools, tyres and stored items fall outside every policy. Pay attention to the requirement of signs of forced entry for theft and to limits for valuable items. We take stock of what is actually there and find suitable cover for it.