# 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.

*Gepubliceerd: 2026-06-08* · *Categorie: uitleg*

---

The cost of engaging their own expert needlessly holds many people back. That is a pity, because for consumers the law arranges this well.

## The statutory basis

Article 7:959(1) of the Dutch Civil Code provides that the **reasonable costs** of assessing the loss are payable by the insurer. This includes the costs of a counter-expert engaged by you.

## For consumers this is (semi-)mandatory law

Under a private policy, the insurer may not deviate from this to your detriment — not even if your policy says nothing about it. In practice, as a private individual you therefore pay nothing, provided the costs are reasonable (the so-called double reasonableness test: it must be reasonable to incur costs, and the amount must be reasonable).

## And for businesses?

For commercial insurance, article 7:959 of the Dutch Civil Code is not mandatory. The policy then takes precedence, and the reimbursement may, for example, be limited to the amount charged by the insurer's own expert. Have your conditions checked in advance.

> **Please note** — An insurer may not impose as a hard requirement that your counter-expert be NIVRE-registered; the Court of Appeal of The Hague so ruled in 2020 (affirmed by the Dutch Supreme Court in 2022). NIVRE was co-founded by insurers and is therefore not an independent quality mark — it is not the registration that counts, but your expert's demonstrable expertise and independence.