Home contents insurance (inboedelverzekering) for an apartment

Owner's improvements are a separate section

The deed of division determines where the building ends and your interest begins. Everything you had installed yourself after purchase falls outside the association's policy: a more expensive kitchen, a refitted bathroom, a parquet floor you had laid or a dormer window. Put this on your policy schedule as a separate amount. Without that entry it will not be paid for after a fire, even if your contents sum is generous enough.

Water damage from the neighbours

If your upstairs neighbour's washing machine leaks onto your ceiling, that is their liability under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code and therefore their liability insurance. If the water comes from a communal soil stack, it is for the association to deal with. If in doubt, report it both to your own insurer and to the board; your insurer can pay the claim and then recover the cost itself from the party at fault.

Storeroom, balcony and communal areas

Belongings in a communal bicycle store or cellar unit fall under limited cover, and often only where there are demonstrable signs of forced entry to your own unit. A bicycle or mobility scooter usually has to be declared separately. For garden furniture, planters and a barbecue on the balcony many policies apply their own maximum, and theft from a freely accessible balcony is regularly excluded.

What your contents policy does not cover

Not covered are the structure of the building, glass in communal parts and damage the VvE policy is supposed to bear. There the policies overlap and your insurer will refer you on. Also excluded are damp gradually penetrating through a leaking roof, damage from neglected maintenance of the block, and lost turnover or rent if you let the flat out. Flooding from primary flood defences is excluded as standard.

Theft outside the home

Away from the home the cover is limited and requirements often apply to how items are locked away.

Underinsurance is calculated proportionately, even for small claims

If your home contents are insured for half their actual value, you will be paid only half even on a claim of a thousand euros. Use the insurer's contents value calculator; completed correctly, it usually gives a guarantee against underinsurance. Your policy schedule states whether you have one.

Home contents insurance (inboedelverzekering)