Knowledge
What we know — and share with you.
In our knowledge base: case law that shaped the counter-expert profession, opinion pieces on insurer practices, and clear explainers on the concepts you may encounter.
Featured
- Explainer
The first 24 hours after fire or water damage
A clear step-by-step plan for the first, chaotic hours. What do you do first, and what can wait a little?
Read the article - Explainer
You are entitled to your own expert (counter-expertise)
The insurer's expert works for the insurer. You may put your own independent specialist opposite them.
Read the article - Explainer
Who pays for the counter-expert?
For private individuals, counter-expertise is in practice free of charge. The law places the reasonable costs with the insurer.
Read the article - Explainer
What does a counter-expert do?
A counter-expert represents your interests after a loss, opposite your insurer's expert. A short explanation of the role, the costs and your rights.
Read the article - Case law
Court of The Hague: Achmea must drop unlawful requirements imposed on counter-experts (2020)
A landmark ruling: the Court of Appeal of The Hague held that Achmea may not demand that its policyholders' counter-expert be registered with NIVRE.
Read the article
First aid
- Explainer
Your duty to mitigate: limiting further damage
You are required to take reasonable measures to limit the damage. What does that involve, and who pays those costs?
- Explainer
Checklist: which documents belong in your file
A complete, well-organised file is your strongest asset. This checklist helps you forget nothing.
- Explainer Featured
The first 24 hours after fire or water damage
A clear step-by-step plan for the first, chaotic hours. What do you do first, and what can wait a little?
- Explainer
Documenting your loss: photographs, lists and receipts
Good evidence is worth its weight in gold. This is how to record your loss so that nothing is overlooked.
- Explainer
Reporting damage to your insurer
How do you report the damage, what do you pass on, and what should you watch out for in that first contact?
Your rights
- Explainer
Your claim has been rejected — what now?
A rejection is not the end of the road. Here is how to establish the reason and decide on your next steps.
- Explainer
Do not be too quick to sign your agreement
A signature under the loss assessment often closes the door. Why it is better to pause for a moment.
- Explainer Featured
You are entitled to your own expert (counter-expertise)
The insurer's expert works for the insurer. You may put your own independent specialist opposite them.
- Explainer
How long may the insurer take over your claim?
There is no hard statutory deadline for handling a claim, but there are limits. And watch the three-year limitation period.
- Explainer
The declaration of agreement and the settlement agreement explained
What exactly are you signing when you agree to the loss figure? And can you still go back on it later?
- Explainer Featured
Who pays for the counter-expert?
For private individuals, counter-expertise is in practice free of charge. The law places the reasonable costs with the insurer.
The process
- Explainer
Replacement-as-new value, current value and depreciation
Why you sometimes receive less than the as-new price, and what the widely used 40% rule means.
- Explainer
Underinsurance and the guarantee against underinsurance
If your sum insured is too low, you are only reimbursed part of your loss. This is how the proportionality rule works.
- Explainer
Buildings or contents — what falls under which?
The distinction determines which insurance pays out. A simple rule of thumb gets you started.
- Explainer
What exactly does the insurer's expert do?
Understand the role of the loss adjuster who comes to visit, so you know what to expect from that conversation.
Fire damage
- Explainer
Firefighting water and consequential damage after a fire
The extinguishing, the clearance and the aftermath often cause more damage than the fire itself. What does this include?
- Explainer
Soot and smoke damage: the invisible damage after a fire
After a fire, far from all the damage is visible. Soot and smoke creep into everything and are often underestimated.
Water damage
- Explainer
A leak in your home: step-by-step plan and what is insured
From stopping the water to the claim: the right order of steps in the event of a leak, and which costs are generally covered.
- Explainer
Mould and hidden moisture after water damage
Water drains away where you cannot see it. Hidden moisture and mould sometimes only surface weeks later.
- Explainer
Which water damage is usually insured — and which is not?
The cause often determines everything. A clear overview of what is generally reimbursed — and what is not.
Opinion
Explainer
Case law
- Case law Featured
Court of The Hague: Achmea must drop unlawful requirements imposed on counter-experts (2020)
A landmark ruling: the Court of Appeal of The Hague held that Achmea may not demand that its policyholders' counter-expert be registered with NIVRE.
- Case law
Interpolis ordered to reimburse counter-expert costs (2018)
A district court ruling that reaffirmed the statutory right to reimbursement of reasonable counter-expertise costs — and drew a sharper line around what insurers can call 'reasonable'.
- Case law
Court: a suspicion of fraud is insufficient to defeat an entire claim (2017)
A 2017 court ruling made clear that insurers refusing a claim outright on the basis of a suspicion of fraud bear the burden of proof — and that a suspicion alone is not enough.
- Case law
Minister confirms: insurers must comply with the law on counter-expertise (2017)
In 2017 the Minister of Justice and Security made clear that policy conditions cannot override the Dutch Civil Code — a political confirmation of what the statute already provided.
- Case law
Parliamentary questions on counter-expertise (2015): how the political debate began
In 2015 CDA member of parliament Peter Oskam tabled a series of questions to the Minister about indemnity insurers' practices on counter-expertise — the start of a political and legal movement.
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