The usual personal insurance policies

In brief

By standard personal cover we mean the usual package of personal general insurance: the policies that relate to the household, separately from any trade or business. In essence there are four. The buildings insurance for the building if you own it, the home contents insurance for everything loose inside it, the personal liability insurance for damage you or your family members cause to others, and the compulsory Third-party liability insurance for every motor vehicle registered in your name, under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM).

Around that sits a second layer that differs from household to household: legal expenses, a continuous travel insurance, cover for valuables such as jewellery, art and equipment that exceed the sub-limit on the contents policy, and a personal accident or life insurance policy. These policies are not compulsory, but they cover precisely the risks the usual package leaves open. If you rent your home you do not need buildings insurance, but you do need cover for fixtures you have installed yourself — on many policies those fall under the contents cover, but not automatically.

In a package, it matters that the parts fit together and do not overlap. Glass sometimes appears on both the buildings and the contents policy, and the baggage cover on a travel policy overlaps with the away-from-home cover on the contents policy. Being insured twice does not produce a double payment. It only produces a double premium. Go through your policy schedules every couple of years, certainly after moving house, refurbishing, moving in together or the arrival of children.