'+esc(t.geen)+'
'+acts(j,null)+''+esc(t.noot)+'
';open();return;} panel.innerHTML=res.map(function(r,i){return ''+esc(r.title)+''+esc((r.description||'').slice(0,120))+'';}).join('')+(j.forms&&j.forms.length?''+esc(top.description||'')+'
'+acts(j,top.url)+''+esc(t.noot)+'
'+(more?'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.
This page in another language: Nederlands
Work out for yourself what it would cost.
Enter your details; you will receive a proposal within one working day.
A premium indication, not personal advice. Prefer to talk it through? Call 072 - 509 24 56.
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).
We compare your buildings insurance across dozens of insurers, explain where the real differences lie, and arrange the switch from start to finish — without you having to chase it yourself.
Buildings insurance
Compare
Get coveredWe look at the terms as well as the premium, and stay your point of contact when there is a claim.
We are not tied to one insurer and compare on the basis of an objective analysis of several companies.
You call or email someone who knows your file. No menu options, no changing call centres.
We cancel your old policy and align the start date, so you are never a day without cover.
We report the claim and monitor how it is handled. In urgent cases you can reach us on the emergency line.
Four steps that determine how a water damage claim is settled.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This is what people ask us most.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Every situation is different. For these situations we have a separate page.
Maandag- Vrijdag: 09:00- 17:00
We use cookies and similar technologies to improve your experience on our website.
