Insuring a tiny house for private use through OOM Verzekeringen

In brief

Finass Advies compares several insurers objectively. OOM Verzekeringen comes into play for items that cannot be placed in a standard product, and a tiny house is a prime example. For a private individual it turns on one practical question that is often skipped: is this your main residence or a second home? Not only the cover for the item hangs on that, but also your contents and liability insurance, because those assume an address where you live. Business use follows a different route; see tiny house, business.

If you live there permanently, your registration, your postal address and your insurance declaration must all match. A home contents insurance insures the contents at the risk address. If your old house is still listed there, your belongings are effectively uninsured. Personal liability insurance (AVP) ties cover to your household and to the property you occupy. That too requires a correct declaration. If you use the house only at weekends or in summer, the conditions for recreational use apply, with an obligation to drain the water and restrictions during vacancy.

The second point is the basis of value. A tiny house is often built by the owner or by a small builder, with a great deal of labour and sometimes with second-hand materials. What it costs to have it built again has nothing to do with what you spent on it. Have it recorded whether settlement is at rebuild or at replacement value and whether the installations, the kitchen and the fitted units are included. For cover of solar panels the same logic applies as on an ordinary roof; see buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) with solar panels.

This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare holiday home and chalet insurance.