All-risks or named perils · at home or away · excess
Is your phone insured if you drop it?
Dropping something is not fire, storm or burglary. Whether the screen is paid for therefore depends on one choice on your policy: does it cover named events, or a mishap of your own as well?
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Is uw telefoon verzekerd als u hem laat vallen?.
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 for yourself what it would cost.
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.
In brief
A basic or extended home contents insurance works with named events: fire, lightning strike, storm, water from pipes, burglary, impact. Slipping out of your hand is on none of those lists. Only an comprehensive cover, also called extra extended or valuables cover, pays for damage that arose suddenly and unforeseen without one of those events. That is precisely the difference that decides matters with a broken screen.
The second question is where it happened. Home contents insurance covers belongings in and around the home. If the phone falls out of your pocket in the street, in the canteen or on holiday, you need cover away from the home, or a separate valuables insurance for mobile electronics. Many policies also have a sub-limit for audiovisual and computer equipment; above that there is no payment, whatever the cause.
Finally, consider whether reporting it is worthwhile. There is an excess, the payment for an older device moves from replacement value as new to market value, and a registered claim counts in the assessment of your policy. With a device that is a few years old, little remains after the deductions. The wider question of which phone damage does land on the home contents policy is dealt with at is your phone insured on your home contents insurance.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare home contents insurance (inboedelverzekering).
What to look out for
Four points that determine the outcome with a dropped phone.
Named perils against all-risks
If your policy schedule says 'extended perils cover', a fall without an external cause is not insured. If it says 'all-risks' or 'extra extended', then your own fault is no obstacle: the mishap is precisely the insured event. Check this before you call, because a refused claim still stays in your claims history.
What an insurer does not call damage
Excluded are scratches, dents and other blemishes that do not affect how it works, wear such as a battery that holds less charge, and inherent defect or a manufacturing fault: that is a matter for the warranty or for the seller. Nor are loss and disappearance without an identifiable event covered damage. Without signs of forced entry the same applies to theft.
Recklessness counts
Damage caused by intent or recklessness is, under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code excluded. A device left on the roof of the car, or deliberately used in a risky situation, falls under that sooner than people expect. The insurer therefore always asks how it happened, and that account has to be consistent with the damage.
Report it in time and keep the device
Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to report the damage as soon as you are reasonably aware of it and to cooperate in establishing it. Do not have the screen replaced before you have permission: a repaired device can no longer be assessed. Keep the purchase invoice, because that shows the age which determines the payment.
What does your premium depend on?
- Type of cover chosen: all-risks costs more than extended cover
- Cover away from the home: a separate section with its own conditions
- Contents value: the basis for the premium on the whole policy
- Excess: a higher excess brings the premium down
- Sub-limit for electronics: it can be raised, but not without limit
- Claims history: several small claims count at renewal
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Extended | Comprehensive |
|---|---|---|
| Your device slides off the armrest at home onto the tiled floor and the screen cracks | No | Yes |
| The phone falls out of your coat pocket in the street as you take out your keys | No | Provided that |
| Your toddler drops the device into the toilet | No | Yes |
| The phone is on the worktop and is damaged in a pan fire | Yes | Yes |
| The device falls out of your hand into the swimming pool during a holiday in Spain | No | Provided that |
| You knock the phone off the table while it is on the charger. The connection no longer works afterwards | No | Yes |
The lines marked Provided that hang on the away-from-home section. Without that extension a home contents policy stops at the front door.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Someone else dropped my phone. Can I hold them liable?
In principle yes, under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, and their liability insurance could bear it. There is one important obstacle: almost every AVP excludes damage to property the person responsible had in their care. If they had your device in their hand or on loan, that care, custody and control exclusion applies and the loss stays with you. See personal liability insurance.
Is a phone belonging to my employer insured as well?
No. A device owned by your employer is not part of your home contents. You are at most its user. You report damage to your employer, who can place it on business electronics or business contents cover. Your own policy can also founder here on the exclusion for items used for a profession or business.
Will I get the new price of my device back?
Usually not. For equipment it often applies that after a number of years, or below a certain residual value percentage, market value rather than replacement value as new is paid. No more is paid than the loss actually suffered. That follows from Article 7:960 of the Dutch Civil Code. Often there is also first a check on whether repair is possible, and only that bill is met.
Is separate phone insurance worthwhile alongside my home contents policy?
That depends on what your home contents policy already does. If you have all-risks with cover away from the home and a generous sub-limit, you are insuring the risk twice. If one of those three is missing, valuables or mobile electronics cover is the alternative. Compare the exclusions above all: loss and inherent defect normally stay outside the cover there as well.
Read more
Within Inboedelverzekering
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