Limit · record · report
What to do if there is a leak in your home
The first two hours after a leak determine most of the file. What you do and record then counts for more than the discussion about cover later.
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Deze pagina in het Nederlands: Wat u moet doen bij een lekkage in huis.
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A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
In brief
With a leak there is a fixed order: first limit, then record, then report and only after that repair. Limiting the damage is not optional advice. Article 7:957 of the Dutch Civil Code requires you to take reasonable steps to prevent or reduce the loss, and the reasonable costs of doing so are for the insurer's account. So turn off the mains tap, switch off the electricity in the affected area, lift belongings up and catch the water.
Recording is the step most often skipped. Take photographs and videos of the wet patches, of the ceiling, of the floor and of the damaged belongings before anything is dried, taken out or thrown away. Note the date and time, and keep the damaged part itself, such as the burst section of pipe or the split hose. A loss adjuster cannot see afterwards what has been removed.
Report as soon as reasonably possible. That follows from Article 7:941 of the Dutch Civil Code. Report even if you do not yet know whether there is cover, because reporting late can harm the insurer's interest in investigating. If it concerns damage to belongings, it goes through the home contents insurance; if it concerns the floor, the ceiling or the walls, through the buildings insurance. How a notification proceeds is set out at report a claim.
This page deals with one situation. The full overview is on Compare home contents insurance (inboedelverzekering).
The steps at a glance
Four steps that determine how a water damage claim is settled.
Wait before stripping out and drying
Calling in a drying company is allowed and is often sensible, but leave the damaged material as intact as possible until the insurer has said whether a loss adjuster will attend. If you clear everything up and throw the sodden floor away, the size of the loss has to be reconstructed afterwards from your own photographs. Keep receipts for emergency measures. Those fall under the costs of mitigating the loss.
The source and the consequence are two different things
Repairing the leaking pipe, the worn seal or the broken appliance is not an insured loss. That is maintenance. What the escaping water has done to the floor, ceiling, walls and contents can be covered. Some policies also pay tracing and reinstatement costs: breaking open a floor or wall to find the leak and closing it up afterwards. Check whether that item is on your policy.
Establish who the other party is
If the water comes from the flat above, that is a liability question under Article 6:162 of the Dutch Civil Code, or, where there is a defect in the building, under Article 6:174 of the Dutch Civil Code. In a block of flats the structure goes through the buildings insurance held by the VvE. If you rent, you report it both to the landlord and to your own home contents insurer. Your belongings always stay on your own policy.
What is almost never paid for
Outside the cover are groundwater, water from the sewer and flooding, penetrating and rising damp, construction defects and deferred maintenance, and damage caused by a leak that had been running for a long time and that you could have noticed. Frost damage to pipes in an unheated space that has not been drained is often excluded too. And water that someone let run deliberately is covered nowhere, under Article 7:952 of the Dutch Civil Code.
What does your premium depend on?
- Type of cover chosen: extended or comprehensive on contents and buildings
- Costs of tracing the leak included: and reinstatement after breaking open
- Year of construction and state of the pipework: old installations count when cover is assessed
- Type of home: a flat, a family house or a rented home
- Level of the excess: sometimes set separately for water damage
- Claims history: repeated water damage at the same address
Insurers weigh these details differently. That is where your saving is.
What is covered
| Situation | Home contents insurance (inboedelverzekering) | Buildings insurance (opstalverzekering) |
|---|---|---|
| The sodden click laminate lying loose on the subfloor | Yes | No |
| The poured floor and the tiling underneath that have been affected | No | Yes |
| The sofa and the bookcase that stood under the leaking ceiling | Yes | No |
| Breaking open the bathroom wall to find the leaking pipe | No | Provided that |
| The ceiling of your living room below the bathroom of the flat above | No | Yes |
| The kitchen you had installed yourself in your rented home | Yes | No |
Ask the repairer for a quotation that separates the building work from the contents. That saves argument between two insurers.
Frequently asked questions
This is what people ask us most.
Do I have to wait before clearing up until the loss adjuster has visited?
You may always take steps to limit the damage straight away. You are in fact obliged to. Final repairs and throwing away damaged belongings are better postponed until the insurer has said whether a loss adjuster will attend. In any case take extensive photographs before you dispose of anything, and keep the leaking part itself as evidence.
Are the costs of leak detection paid?
Only if your policy mentions tracing costs. That cover pays for tracing the leak and for breaking open and closing up the floor, wall or ceiling. Repairing the pipe itself is not included, because that is maintenance. With a leak under a poured floor or in a pipe duct this item mounts up quickly, so check it before you take out a policy.
I rent the property. Who do I report the damage to?
To both. The landlord is responsible for the building and the installations and has to have the leak put right. Your own belongings fall under your home contents insurance, even if the cause lies with the landlord. If you installed a floor or kitchen yourself, that falls under the tenant's improvements and has to be stated separately on your policy.
The leak turned out to have been running for months. Is that paid for?
Often not. Policies cover damage caused by a sudden and unforeseen event. A slowly progressing leak counts as the gradual effect of damp and is excluded. If the leak arose suddenly and you only discovered it later, the position is different. So record when you noticed it and what you did at that point.