Dutch Insurance Claims: Steps, Documents and Payouts After Water Damage or Burglary

What does a €1,500 contents claim pay after the deductible?

An example to show the effect of the deductible: water from a burst pipe ruins a sofa and a rug with a combined new price of €1,500.

The payout column is our own sum (claim minus deductible). Insurers that pay day value instead of new value on older items pay less; the valuation section below explains the differences. A claim smaller than your deductible pays nothing.

No policy yet, or not sure which policy covers which damage? The insurance chooser asks how you live and work and lists contents, liability and other cover for that situation.

Below: what a Dutch claim looks like for contents, buildings and liability, with one insurer’s published process as a worked example.

💡 Related: contents insurance for renters, liability insurance (AVP) explained, theft outside your home.

What should you do in the first hour after damage?

Everything you do before you open the app affects the claim.

Stop the damage getting worse. Lemonade’s policy requires you to take immediate steps to minimise damage — move property or people out of harm’s way, put out the fire, call a plumber to stop an ongoing leak — and says the associated costs you consider reasonable and necessary can be included in the claim (lemonade.com/nl/en, checked 9 October 2026). In practice: an emergency plumber who stops a leak is the kind of cost the policy expects you to make.

Call whoever needs calling. Police, fire service, ambulance; and for a rented home, the landlord or building manager. Lemonade’s obligations list names both categories.

Notify the insurer straight away. Prompt notification is written into the policy as a duty rather than a suggestion, and not meeting the policy obligations can reduce or void cover.

Photograph everything before you clean up. Wide shots of the room, close-ups of the damage, the source if you can see it. Keep damaged items until the insurer confirms you may dispose of them, because an assessor may want to see them.

Do you need a police report for a theft claim?

For anything stolen, the police report is the document the whole claim hangs on. Lemonade’s instruction is specific: contact the police, give them as much information as you can, and ask for a reference number, because you will need it when filing the claim — then send a copy of the report with the claim (lemonade.com/nl/en, checked 9 October 2026).

A practical note: the reference number is what the insurer needs. And if the stolen item is your phone, you can still file: Lemonade tells you to log in with your registered email on a partner’s, family member’s or friend’s device.

For bikes, add the bike’s receipt and the receipt for the ART-certified lock, and a photo showing you still hold the keys if you have one — Lemonade says it speeds up the case. Our theft outside the home guide covers the lock conditions that decide whether such a claim succeeds at all.

How do you prove what an item was worth?

A typical expat problem is furniture bought second-hand from someone leaving the country, with no paperwork at all.

Lemonade is explicit about alternatives to receipts, listing a link to a retailer selling the same item, a copy of the bank transaction to the seller, a screenshot of the sales conversation or online purchase, a photo of the item in your possession, and — for gifts — confirmation from the giver of the transfer of ownership (lemonade.com/nl/en, checked 9 October 2026). It suggests keeping track of where and when you bought anything worth €250 or more, and photographing receipts alongside the product.

The five-minute version: walk through your flat filming each room including inside cupboards, and store the video somewhere that survives the loss of your laptop. Do it this weekend, not after the burglary.

See how Lemonade's claims process works

How is the payout calculated?

Three variables decide the number: the valuation basis, the deductible, and the limits.

Valuation. Lemonade pays 100% replacement cost on your own contents — repair or replace, whichever is lower, at the price of a new item of the same make and model, without deductions. For damage you cause to somebody else, it pays depreciated replacement value. FBTO states that its liability cover reimburses the dagwaarde, the day value of the damaged goods (lemonade.com/nl/en and fbto.nl, both checked 9 October 2026). Univé uses a threshold on contents: if an item’s current value is more than 40% of the new price you get the new value, below that the day value (unive.nl, checked 30 September 2026). These bases can produce very different numbers on an older sofa, which is why “what does it pay out” is a better question than “what does it cost”.

Deductible. Deducted from every payout. Centraal Beheer offers €0, €100 or €200 on contents, with a fixed €100 per event whenever All Risk is included; FBTO lists a €500 deductible on one contents option and €0, €150 or €300 on the other; Lemonade lets you choose, including €0, and adds a fixed €250 storm deductible to all buildings policies (centraalbeheer.nl, fbto.nl and lemonade.com/nl/en, all checked 9 October 2026). Univé has no deductible as standard on contents and buildings, offers €100, €250 or €500 voluntarily, and charges a compulsory €250 on storm damage to a building (unive.nl, checked 30 September 2026). A claim below the deductible is pointless — Lemonade rejects it automatically.

Limits. Per-item caps and category caps can apply before the total sum insured does. If the stolen item is worth more than the per-item ceiling and you never registered it for extra cover, the ceiling is what you get.

Rebuilding a house works differently again: Lemonade pays 50% of estimated rebuild costs upfront if you rebuild within a year, and the remaining 50% against invoices within three years. Keep every invoice. See the buildings insurance guide.

How long does a claim take, and what does “instant” mean?

Insurers advertise speed, so it is worth separating the published figures from what you should expect.

Lemonade states that around 40% of claims are handled instantly, that its fastest recorded claim took three seconds, and that claims needing a closer look go to its human claims team; filing runs through the app, where you answer what happened, when, and whether anyone was injured, record a short video statement, and give an expected claim amount (lemonade.com/nl/en, checked 9 October 2026). It also says the process can take longer where it is not your first loss or where information is missing.

Two structural details behind the speed. The claim amount you enter must exceed your deductible or the claim is rejected automatically. And payment goes only to a bank account in your own name within the EU, the EEA or the SEPA area, in euros — worth knowing if your salary still lands in an account at home.

Traditional insurers use their own channels. Centraal Beheer asks you to report claims online or in its app and lists an emergency line, (055) 579 7955, 24 hours a day (centraalbeheer.nl, checked 9 October 2026). Its claims page gives no average settlement time, and FBTO’s claims page could not be read that day, so ask each insurer.

Should you admit liability if you caused damage?

If you caused damage to someone else, the instinct to apologise in writing is the expensive one.

Report it to your insurer with the other party’s details and let them assess liability. Lemonade’s policy states it may investigate, settle or contest the complaint as it judges best and provides legal defence at its own expense — and, crucially, that cover applies only where the claim is based on statutory liability provisions under private law, so agreeing to pay for damage you were not legally responsible for falls outside the policy (lemonade.com/nl/en, checked 9 October 2026).

Your insurer then deals with the other party. Your job is to report accurately and quickly, not to settle it yourself in a stairwell. The AVP guide covers what is and is not covered in the first place.

What if you disagree with the assessor or the claim is refused?

For anything substantial, the insurer may send a damage expert. If you disagree with the assessment, you are not stuck with it.

Lemonade will reimburse a NIVRE-certified counter-expert on buildings claims where you disagree with its expert, and on contents claims will cover a reasonable second assessment; if the two differ, a third expert reviews both and the final amount lands between the first and second figures (lemonade.com/nl/en, checked 9 October 2026). NIVRE is the Dutch register for loss adjusters, and asking whether an expert is NIVRE-registered is a reasonable question.

If the claim is refused outright, the route is: internal complaint first, with a written explanation of what you want; then Kifid, the Dutch Institute for Financial Disputes, which handles complaints against financial service providers. Lemonade names Kifid as the next step after its own complaints procedure and gives 0800-0226040 as its complaints line, Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm.

Which habits make claims easier?

1. Film the flat once a year and store the video off-device.
2. Photograph receipts for anything over €250, and for locks.
3. Register high-value items with the insurer before you need to, not after.
4. Save your policy number and the claims route in your phone.
5. Report within hours, not days.
6. Never admit liability; report it instead.

For the cover these claims run against, see contents insurance for renters and the Lemonade review; health claims work on an entirely separate system, covered in the health insurance pillar.

Related reading

• Contents insurance for renters in the Netherlands
• Liability insurance (AVP) explained for expats
• Insurance checklist for your first month
• Dutch home contents and liability insurance
• Bike insurance and theft for cyclists
• Car insurance for expats: WA, WA+ and allrisk
• Insurance brokers for expats: when one is worth it

This article describes general Dutch claims practice and one insurer’s published process; it is not insurance or legal advice. Statements come from Lemonade’s FAQ, claims page and Policy 2.0 at lemonade.com/nl/en, FBTO (fbto.nl/aansprakelijkheidsverzekering and fbto.nl/woonverzekering/inboedelverzekering) and Centraal Beheer (centraalbeheer.nl/verzekeringen/inboedelverzekering and centraalbeheer.nl/schade-melden), all checked 9 October 2026, and Univé (unive.nl), checked 30 September 2026. Complaints against Dutch financial service providers can be brought to Kifid. FBTO and Centraal Beheer are named for their published conditions and are not partners of ours.

Sources

• How a complaint works (Hoe werkt het), Kifid, consulted 28 October 2026
• Lemonade FAQ, claims page and Policy 2.0, lemonade.com/nl/en, consulted 9 October 2026 (FAQ also 3 November 2026)
• Centraal Beheer contents insurance and claims reporting, centraalbeheer.nl, consulted 9 October 2026 (deductibles also 3 November 2026)
• FBTO liability and contents insurance, fbto.nl, consulted 9 October 2026
• Univé contents and buildings insurance, unive.nl, consulted 30 September 2026 (contents deductible also 3 November 2026)