Headstone and surround · cemetery regulations · subsidence
Insuring grave monuments through OOM
A grave memorial stands outdoors, on someone else's land, and nobody keeps a daily eye on it. Whoever holds the grave rights bears the cost of repairs and the liability if it falls over.
- Several insurers compared objectively
- 9.5 customer rating for a new policy
- AFM licence 12016589
- Personal 072 - 509 24 56, weekdays 9–17
Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Grafmonumenten verzekeren via OOM.
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
Finass acts as an intermediary through OOM Verzekeringen, among others, and uses that insurer where objects do not fit a standard home policy. We are not tied to it and compare several insurers objectively. A grave memorial is such an object: it does not fall under your buildings insurance, because it is not on your land, and not under your contents insurance, because it is not in your home.
What sets it apart is the position of the holder of the grave rights. You have a grave right over a grave owned by the local authority or a religious institution, but the memorial itself is yours. The cemetery's management regulations place its maintenance with you and can provide that a neglected or dangerous memorial is repaired or removed at your expense. The cover is therefore about your own property on someone else's land.
The causes of damage are limited in kind but real enough: vandalism and being pushed over, a falling tree or a branch blown down, an impact from maintenance machinery, fire or lightning, and the headstone cracking or shifting. Also, theft of bronze letters, vases and sculpture occurs. What a policy picks up from that differs widely; read the list of perils before you take out cover.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare buildings insurance (opstalverzekering).
What to look out for
Four points that make the difference, with a grave memorial, between repairs at the insurer's expense or at your own.
What exactly is insured
Insure not only the standing stone but also the surround, the covering slab, the gravel, the vases and the sculpture. An impact from a mowing machine usually hits precisely those edges. Make sure the description and the sum insured match how the memorial is actually made. A natural stone memorial with an inscription costs more to repair than the original installation suggests.
Subsidence and settlement of the ground
A grave sinks over time. Damage from normal settlement and subsidence is excluded on almost every policy, because it is a gradual and foreseeable process and not a sudden event. Straightening a headstone that has sunk unevenly is therefore maintenance. Ask expressly how your conditions treat this, because it is the most common refusal.
The cemetery's regulations take precedence
The keeper of the cemetery sets requirements on dimensions, foundations and materials, and can provide that repairs may only be carried out by an approved stonemason. If you carry out repairs yourself or have someone else do them, the cemetery can refuse them. Keep the grave rights and the regulations with your policy, because the insurer will ask for them.
What falls outside the cover
Excluded in any event are: weathering, soiling, moss and algae growth and discolouration, in other words ordinary maintenance; damage during transport or installation, because that is the stonemason's responsibility; and inherent defect such as a badly chosen base or a fault in the material. The expiry of the grave rights and the cost of clearance are not insured losses either.
What does your premium depend on?
- Value and design of the memorial: natural stone with sculpture differs from a simple headstone
- Location of the cemetery: remote or unsupervised grounds see more vandalism
- Trees and planting around it: falling branches and root heave are real causes
- Perils chosen: fire and storm only, or vandalism and theft as well
- Age and condition of the memorial: a weathered stone is harder to repair
- Excess per event: determines whether small repairs are worth reporting
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Basic | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| A group of young people pushes the standing stone over at night | No | Yes |
| A branch from the beech tree in the cemetery falls on the covering slab during a storm | Yes | Yes |
| The keeper's mowing machine hits the granite surround | No | Provided that |
| The bronze letters are unscrewed from the stone and taken away | No | Yes |
| After ten years the headstone leans because the ground has compacted | No | No |
| Lightning strikes just beside the grave and the stone cracks | Yes | Yes |
Whether an event counts as sudden and unforeseen decides the outcome here more often than the level of the sum insured.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Does a grave memorial fall under my buildings or home contents insurance?
No. Buildings insurance covers the building on your own land and home contents insurance the belongings in your home. A grave memorial stands on land belonging to the local authority or a religious institution and falls outside both. There is separate cover for it. See also the hub on buildings insurance for the difference in scope.
Who is liable if the memorial falls over and someone is injured?
As the owner of a structure that does not meet the standards it may be expected to meet, you can be liable for the consequences under Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code, even without fault. That claim belongs not on the memorial cover but on personal liability insurance. Prevent argument by having the memorial checked periodically for stability.
Is vandalism to a headstone covered?
With many policies it is, provided it is included as a peril in the conditions. Always report it to the police and also to the keeper of the cemetery. For the insurer that police report is the evidence that it is deliberate damage and not weathering. Also report it in good time, as Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code requires.
What happens when the grave rights expire?
Your interest in the memorial then ends, and with it the reason for the insurance. The cemetery can clear the grave and remove the memorial. Those costs are not an insured loss. If you want to keep the memorial, renew the grave rights in good time and report that renewal, so that the policy and the underlying interest continue to match.
Read more
Within Why we work with different insurers
- Why we work with different insurersthe main page
- Oom verzekeringen strandhuisjes verzekering voor privegebruik
- Oom verzekeringen tiny house verzekering zakelijk
- Oom verzekeringen verzekering gebouw terrein object of zaak verzekeren
- Oom verzekeringen zakelijk clubgebouw verzekering
- Oom verzekeringen zakelijk strandhuisjes verzekering voor verhuur
- Oom verzekeringen zakelijk strandpaviljoen seizoen verzekering