What about excess in home contents insurance?
When you take out contents insurance, the term "excess" may come up and be discussed with you. This is also the case with contents insurance. What is excess and what does it mean?
What is excess?
You may have an insurance excess. This excess usually applies per claim. An excess means that you will have to pay for part of the damage as standard.
Example: you have a damage of € 5,000. The insurance policy states that you have a risk of € 250 per incident. You will therefore receive a maximum of €4,750 in compensation.
Example: you live in Amsterdam and have €1,000 worth of damage due to theft. The insurance policy states that you have an excess of €250 per incident. Because you live in one of the major cities, an additional deductible of €100 applies. In this case, you will receive a maximum compensation of € 650.
Do you have an excess for contents insurance?
With most insurers, you have a choice in this matter. The higher the excess you choose, the lower the insurance premium will be (and you will get a discount). The insurer will pay less in the event of a claim if you have a higher excess.
There are insurers who always impose an excess. Often this is not a high amount. The idea behind this is that it creates a barrier for claiming every small damage on the contents insurance. Each claim means administrative work for the insurer, also the small claims. This costs the insurer a lot of time and ultimately money.
In addition, insurers hope you will be and become extra thrifty with your belongings by establishing a mandatory deductible.
Insurers may set a different deductible for certain claims. In practice, this occurs in cases such as theft/burglary (especially in large cities) and storms.
When you apply for contents insurance, we will discuss with you how the deductible works with this specific insurer. In addition, the amount of the excess can always be found on your policy schedule and in the policy conditions.
Are there contents insurances without excess?
There are insurers who offer you the option of taking out contents insurance without an excess. The amount of the excess always influences the premium.
Is it wise to choose a high deductible for contents insurance?
Whether it is wise to choose an excess for contents insurance always depends on your personal and financial situation. A high excess is not always wise or unwise. You should think about whether you can easily bear this excess in case of damage, for instance several times a year. To what extent is this feasible for you and does it outweigh the premium discount you get with this higher excess? All this can determine the cost of a contents insurance.
We can be reached via Chat, Whatsapp, phone or email
Please feel free to contact us if you would like to know more.
We are here today until 18:00