Is storm damage covered by the building insurance?
You take out buildings insurance to protect your home against imminent danger. Your house can be seriously damaged by, for example, fire, storm or burglary. This is of course annoying enough. Should this happen, you want to be well insured for it.
In the Netherlands, we experience extreme weather a few times a year. Within minutes, for example, a storm can cause enormous damage. Fortunately, storm damage insurance exists to cover the costs.
The storm damage insurance is part of the building insurance. What exactly is storm damage and what is compensated?
Storm damage excess
Storm damage is of course annoying enough and you want the damage caused by the storm to be repaired as soon as possible. In case of storm damage, you have to pay an excess under a building insurance before you will be compensated for the damage. Usually this amount is €150,-. You can increase or decrease this amount yourself. The excess for storm damage is higher than for most other types of damage. In general, you pay two thousandths of the amount you have insured your home for as an excess. This amount is usually between €200 and €500 but varies per insurer.
Own risk in case of storm damage
If you have suffered storm damage, report this to the insurer as soon as possible! They can discuss with you what you can do best. You may have to take measures to prevent further damage. The advice may also be to do nothing and leave the damage as it is so that experts can assess the damage. It never hurts to take pictures of the damage. You can use these photos as evidence.
If an expert is sent by the insurer, the insurer will pay the costs directly to the company concerned.
However, as mentioned above, there is an excess for storm damage that you must pay before you will be reimbursed for the costs incurred.
Preventing storm damage
(Storm) damage prevention is better than cure. If it is known in advance that a storm is coming, it is important that you prepare well and check a number of things before the storm breaks.
- Close all doors and windows. To ensure that doors and windows are not easily taken away by the storm, it is important that you close them. This also prevents precipitation from entering your home.
- Make sure that all items in your garden or on your balcony are secured and cannot be blown away. If necessary, place items inside your shed or garage. Also check whether the fence is secure and cannot be blown away.
- Check whether any roof tiles are crooked or loose. When roof tiles blow off your house, this causes a lot of danger. Not only in terms of damage to your house, but also for the people and things around your house. In addition, blown away roof tiles can cause leakage.
- Remove dead or loose branches from the trees around your house. This does not only reduce the weight of trees. Hanging branches are also a major damage risk.
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