What kinds of insurance exist?

In brief

Insurance can be grouped by what it protects. The first group covers ownership: buildings, home contents, motor vehicles, boats, caravans and valuables. The second group covers liability, that is damage you cause to others, privately through the AVP, and in business through public and employers' or professional indemnity insurance. The third group covers income and health: health insurance, disability insurance, sickness absence cover for employers and term life insurance. There is also a group of services, such as legal expenses insurance and travel insurance with assistance.

Only two types of insurance are required by law: the basic health insurance for anyone who lives or works in the Netherlands, and Third-party liability insurance for motor vehicles under Article 2 of the Dutch Motor Insurance Liability Act (WAM). Everything else is voluntary, although third parties can require it: a lender usually requires buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) with a mortgage, a VvE (Dutch owners' association) arranges the building insurance through the rules under Article 5:112 of the Dutch Civil Code, and a client can make liability insurance a contractual requirement.

The question is not which insurances exist, but which risks you can bear yourself. Small, predictable losses are better paid out of your own pocket. For those, a higher excess is cheaper than premium. Insure what you not bear: a home destroyed by fire, personal injury you cause to someone else, or the loss of your income. Anyone who is self-employed has the biggest gap on that last point, because there is no continued payment of wages and no employer behind them.