Personal accident insurance
- Payment regardless of fault or liability
- Also available as family accident cover
- High-risk sports often excluded
- No reimbursement of medical costs
Accidents · liability · equipment
Sport and your insurance
Playing sport touches several policies at once: injury, liability and expensive equipment. Below you can read where each cover sits and which sports fall outside.
- 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: Sport en uw verzekeringen.
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- 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
There is no such thing as a separate sports policy. What you need for sport is spread across three policies. Permanent injury or death from an accident falls under a personal accident insurance, which pays a lump sum on disability; medical costs in the Netherlands run through health insurance. If you cause damage to someone else while playing sport, that is a matter for personal liability insurance. And damage to or theft of your equipment falls under home contents or valuables insurance, or under the baggage cover on your travel policy.
The sting is in the exclusion of high-risk sports. Almost every travel and personal accident policy has a list of sports that are not insured, or only with additional cover. Recurring on those lists: mountaineering and climbing away from marked routes, air sports such as parachuting, paragliding and gliding, speed and skill competitions with motor vehicles, diving below a stated depth and combat and self-defence sports. Also practising sport professionally and taking part in competitions for which you are paid fall outside cover on a personal policy in almost every case.
Winter sports are a case apart: on many annual travel policies, skiing and snowboarding on the piste are covered only with the winter sports module, and off-piste often only with a guide. If you play sport through a club, part of the cover runs through the club or the federation, but rarely all of it. Ask what that collective arrangement actually covers before you rely on it.
Three policies around sport
Every sporting situation falls under injury, liability or equipment; that determines which policy you turn to.
Personal liability
Covers damage you cause to someone else as a participant.
- Basis: Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code
- Sport and games carry a higher threshold
- Damage to borrowed items covered on a limited basis
- Professional sport falls outside
Equipment and travel
Covers theft of or damage to a bicycle, skis, diving or golf equipment.
- At home through contents or valuables cover
- Away from home through baggage cover
- Sports bicycles often insured separately
- Sub-limits per item and per trip
What is covered
| Situation | Travel insurance | Personal accident insurance |
|---|---|---|
| An injury playing football, tennis or running | Yes | Yes |
| Skiing or snowboarding on the piste | Provided that | Provided that |
| Climbing, mountaineering and off-piste | Provided that | No |
| Parachuting, paragliding and gliding | No | No |
| Speed competitions with motor vehicles | No | No |
| Theft of sports equipment while travelling | Provided that | No |
Which sports your policy excludes is set out by name in the conditions; those lists differ from insurer to insurer and are decisive.
Two points that make the difference in sport
Anyone practising a high-risk sport must arrange it beforehand; afterwards nothing can be done about it.
The list of excluded sports is decisive
Insurers do not work with a general notion of a dangerous sport but with a list in the conditions. If your sport appears on it there is no cover, even if you have practised the sport safely for years. Frequently named are mountaineering, alpinism and via ferrata, air sports including parachuting and hang-gliding, caving, diving deeper than a stated limit and speed contests. Some insurers offer an additional module or separate sports accident cover. If you practise such a sport, report it when the policy is taken out: the duty of disclosure under Article 7:928 of the Dutch Civil Code applies here too, and a breach can reduce or remove payment under Article 7:930 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Liability in sport sits higher
In sport and game situations, stricter requirements apply to liability than in everyday life: participants accept a degree of risk, so not every foul amounts to an tort within the meaning of Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code . Only conduct that clearly falls outside the normal rules of the game gives rise to liability. Note as well that personal liability insurance covers damage to borrowed or hired items only on a limited basis, excludes intent and does nothing once you practise the sport professionally or for payment . For clubs, gyms and trainers, business liability insurance is needed.
What does your premium depend on?
- Type of sport — recreational, competitive or high-risk
- Sums insured chosen — for death and disability
- Additional modules — winter sports or unusual sports
- Age and household composition — individual or the whole family
- Value of the equipment — bicycles, skis, diving equipment
- Area of travel — Europe or worldwide on sports trips
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is why comparing pays off.
How we arrange it
- You request a quoteWe take stock of your situation, risk and wishes.
- We compareseveral insurers, on premium as well as conditions.
- You receive a proposalWith an explanation of the differences and the exclusions.
- We arrange the switchIncluding cancellation, so there is no gap in cover.
9.5New policy
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Customers rate our service on four aspects: personal service, service delivery, availability and the outcome. The reviews are collected and published by NH1816 and come from customers who have actually taken out a policy with Finass Advies B.V. or reported a claim.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often about this.
Do I need a separate sports insurance?
Usually not. For common sports, personal accident insurance, liability insurance and your contents or travel insurance together are enough. A separate policy comes into view for high-risk sports excluded on those policies, for expensive equipment that exceeds the sub-limit, and for clubs wanting collective cover for participants and volunteers.
Are winter sports included as standard on my travel insurance?
Rarely. Most annual travel policies cover winter sports only with the additional winter sports module. That module normally covers accidents on the piste, hire of replacement equipment and sometimes piste rescue costs. Off-piste skiing is often covered only under the supervision of a guide, and heli-skiing and ski touring are excluded altogether by many insurers.
Does the club or federation already cover my accident?
Sports federations and clubs often have collective personal accident and liability insurance, but it usually has low sums insured and covers only activities organised by the club. Training on your own, taking part in third-party events and damage to equipment usually fall outside it. Ask for the conditions before you assume the club has you adequately covered.
Am I covered if I earn money from my sport?
Then the position changes. Personal accident, travel and liability policies almost always exclude professional sport and paid competition. Anyone earning an income as a trainer, instructor or professional athlete needs business liability insurance and usually disability cover as well, because the loss of income weighs more heavily than the injury itself.
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About our service
Finass Verzekert is a trading name of Finass Advies B.V. We advise on and arrange non-life insurance on the basis of an objective analysis of several insurers, and receive commission for this from the insurer, which is included in the premium. You pay no separate advice fee. Before you take out cover, we establish your wishes and needs.
You will find our licence, KvK and Kifid details and our complaints procedure at the foot of every page.
This page was written and checked by an adviser at Finass Verzekert. Last updated on .
The information on this page is general in nature and is not personal advice.