If there is a boring but oh-so-important topic as far as we are concerned, it is “insurance. Home insurance, liability insurance, accident insurance, life insurance, car insurance, travel insurance, death insurance … we just love to insure ourselves. And other parties are only too happy to make money out of this as well. Still, it is important to have the right insurance. But how do discover which insurance applies to you? That starts with explaining what types of insurance there are and what they insure.
What types of insurance: the most common
You have an enormous number of types of insurance. But which are the most common and widely used? And what types of insurance are crucial to have?
Health insurance. Do we all know, is even mandatory in the Netherlands. And that’s just as well. Because of this insurance, we have access to tremendously good care. The cost with health insurance depends on your policy, requirements, insured components and deductible. It usually starts at +/- €120 per month. A good site to compare health insurance is Independer.
Liability Insurance.
This is insurance that pays for damages for which you are legally liable. Damage means damages you cause to persons or other people’s belongings. You accidentally drive a dent in your girlfriend’s car. Your colleague trips over your bag and breaks a leg. That kind of damage. Again, what the cost of liability insurance is depends on your personal situation, but you can get insurance from as little as a few euros a month. Liability insurance is not mandatory in the Netherlands. Useful though.
Contents insurance.
All the loose items in your home that you want to insure against damage and theft. Think about your TV, paintings and if you are a lucky lady: your designer bags. This is not mandatory, but it is convenient. The cost depends on the amount you want to insure. On this page from Independer, you can quickly calculate what insuring your belongings would cost.
Property insurance.
Home and contents insurance are 2 different types of insurance. Together, they are called home insurance. With contents, you insure individual items in your home; with buildings insurance, you insure fixed items such as a kitchen, bathroom, floor, fence, canopy, etc. And in addition: your home itself! With building insurance, you are often also covered for fire, hail, wind, storm, and water damage.
Property insurance is often required as a condition by mortgage lenders, which makes sense. Your home is the collateral for the loan, and the lender wants to cover every possible risk. The cost of building insurance is usually between €10-€25 per month. So pretty smart to take out if you own your own home.
Travel Insurance.
No doubt an acquaintance. Many people are often tempted to purchase additional travel insurance when booking a vacation. But often you are covered for many expenses as (partially) insured through health or liability insurance. In addition, you have short-term and long-term travel insurance policies. Which one is smart to take out depends on your needs and vacation habits. Travel insurance provides coverage for damage, loss or theft of your luggage. In addition, you can add your supplemental insurance for dangerous sports, roadside assistance or supplemental medicine costs. Note that canceling your trip does not cover travel insurance. For that, you often need to purchase separate cancellation insurance.
Death risk insurance.
Ai, the least fun insurance. But important to know. With term life insurance (ORV), you can prevent your dependents from having financial problems if you hemorrhage. If you have a loved one and one of you dies, the other may be left with excessive expenses for one person. By high cost, we mean a high rent or mortgage, or being able to support a family. You may be covering those costs now with 2 incomes, and if 1 stays away it can bring money problems in addition to a lot of grief.
With term life insurance, you make sure that there is then extra money that makes it a little easier to bear these costs. Death risk insurance is insurance to ensure that after death, the partner who remains can continue to live as they used to. This insurance is slightly different from funeral insurance. With this one, you insure the cost of the funeral.
Term life insurance is a life insurance policy and is also called survivors insurance, just so you know.
