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What is the excess of a building insurance?

When taking out a building insurance policy, the 'excess' always comes up. With every insurance you can have an own risk. An excess means that in case of damage, part of the damage is for your own account.

Home insurance excess

Compulsory and voluntary excess

There is a difference between a mandatory and a voluntary deductible.
With home insurance there is usually no obligatory deductible excess. If there is a mandatory deductible, it is often an amount around €100 or €150.

With a number of insurers, you can opt for a voluntary excess. With a voluntary excess, you can choose how high your excess is. The rule is: the higher the excess, the lower the premium.

You should remember to take into account that you will have to pay the excess again for each damage. What you also need to think about is whether you can easily bear the excess in case of damage. Even if this happens several times a year. To what extent is this feasible for you and does it weigh up against the premium discount you get with a higher excess?

 

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A compulsory excess

In some situations, the insurer imposes a mandatory deductible.
This happens in the cases below, among others:

  • Storm damage
    Storm damage is bad enough, of course, and you want the damage caused by the storm to be repaired as quickly as possible. With building insurance, you pay an excess in the event of storm damage before you are reimbursed for the damage. Usually this amount is set at €150. You can increase or decrease the amount yourself. There is a higher deductible for storm damage than for most other damages. Generally, you pay two thousandths of the amount for which you have insured your home in excess. This amount is usually between €200,- and €500,- but varies by insurer.
  • Living in a big city
    If you live in a big city, you usually pay a mandatory deductible of €225 in case of theft or burglary. According to insurers, you are more likely to suffer damage if you live in a big city.
  • Damage caused by your own actions
    Only when you have an All-risk building insurance, you pay a mandatory deductible if you unexpectedly caused damage through your own fault. The excess is usually between €50 and €100.

How is the excess settled?

Suppose you have €2,000 worth of damage to the back door and window frame from a burglary. If you have an excess of €250, the insurer will only pay part of the repair bill. You can pay the rest to the repairer yourself. Or the insurer will pay the full repair bill and then recover the €250 from you.

So preferably go for a building insurance without excess. By comparing building insurance policies you can keep the premium low.

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