Insurance: Third party liability & home contents
Third party liability insurance:
In the Netherlands, you are liable by law if someone suffers damage through a mistake or accident you cause. This means you must compensate the other person for the damage suffered. A personal liability insurance (‘Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering’ AVP) covers this.
This AVP covers almost all damage for which a private individual can be held liable, regardless of how the incident in question occurred. The costs of damages can be quite considerable e.g. the medical costs of a victim from an accident you might cause. An AVP will also cover any damage your child or pet might cause to someone else’s property. Damage caused by motor vehicles, e.g. through a collision, is not covered by the AVP.
Home Contents Insurance:
(“Inboedelverzekering”) Fire and theft can cause unforeseen damage and expenses but you can take out an insurance against these situations. With a home contents insurance, your personal possessions in your apartment/room are insured against, for example burglary, fire or water damage.
It is important to make sure you have proper coverage. The contents of your house must be insured at replacement value. If your coverage is too low, the insurer will pay out less, even for minor damage. This will entail that the insurance money is insufficient to replace the old articles with new ones.
What to do after a burglary:
- Call your insurance company.
- Make a declaration of the burglary at the police.
- The insurance company will sent an expert to check if there are traces of a burglary.
- Make a list of what is missing and the value.
- Search for tickets of the personal possessions that are missing.
Debit / credit card loss or theft:
Immediately report loss or theft of you debit / credit card to your bank. The numbers below are available 24/7. Your debit and/or credit card will then be immediately blocked, so others can’t abuse it. Make a note of the correct number in you mobile phone or agenda.
Debit Card:
- ABN AMRO (Netherlands): 0900-0024
- ING Bank: 0031-(0)58-2126000
- Rabobank: 0031-(0)499-499112
- Other banks (Netherlands): 0800-0313 (free)
- Other banks (abroad): 0031-(0)30-2835372
Non-bank Visa Cards and MasterCards:
- 0031-(0)20-6600611
- PaySquare Cards: 0031-(0)30-2835555