Home insurance in Luxembourg: property, contents, and liability

There are a number of key things to sort out when moving to a new country, one of which is taking out insurance to protect you and your belongings against loss or damage. Home insurance in Luxembourg isn’t a legal requirement. However, many residents choose to protect their property and/or belongings – whether they buy or rent.

We take a look at the following topics:

Introduction to home insurance in Luxembourg

There are two general types of home insurance in Luxembourg. These are:

• Contents insurance, which protects movable assets such as furniture, clothing, electronic goods, and jewelry. This is sometimes called renters/tenants insurance in Luxembourg.
• Building insurance, also known as homeowners insurance, which protects permanent fixtures such as walls, floors, ceilings, kitchen and bathroom units.

Neither building nor contents insurance is compulsory in Luxembourg. This is in contrast to many European countries where you have to insure the building as a minimum. However, many people choose to take out home insurance in Luxembourg to protect themselves against everyday risks.

Most insurance companies in Luxembourg sell combined home insurance that covers both building and contents. However, you can choose to insure them separately. Policies typically also include liability coverage protecting against damage or injury to third parties or their property in your home.

Property insurance is the most common form of non-life insurance in Luxembourg, with an 18.2% market share. However, many residents don’t take out adequate cover on their belongings, and around 45% of homes don’t have contents insurance. Building insurance is a condition of many mortgages in Luxembourg, but there is no equivalent incentive when it comes to protecting your personal goods.

As with all insurance in Luxembourg, the Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA) regulates the market.

Can you use home insurance from another country in Luxembourg?

Luxembourg is an EU country, which means that all EU/EFTA insurance companies can trade in the country as long as they follow EU rules. There are also many other global insurance companies that operate in Luxembourg. If you move to Luxembourg and your insurer is licensed there, you can probably transfer your policy.

However, you won’t be able to transfer a buildings insurance policy under the same terms. These policies are based on property size, value and condition as well as various geographical risk factors. This means your insurer will want to recalculate your premium and may also apply administrative charges for doing this.

The same applies to contents insurance, although you should be able to use a policy under the same terms if you have taken out extended coverage that includes overseas countries – including Luxembourg.

If you are moving to Luxembourg and buying a home, it might be better to shop around for a good combined local deal that includes building and contents insurance

Home insurance companies in Luxembourg

There are 295 insurance companies operating in Luxembourg, including 98 national companies. Many of them sell home insurance. These include:

• Allianz
• AXA
• Bâloise
• Foyer
• LaLux

Some of these insurers may only offer products in the native language, so you might have to shop around a bit if you want to find an English-speaking provider. Another option is to use a firm catering specifically for expats or holiday homeowners, such as Clements Worldwide or IntaSure. Check for best home insurance deals in Luxembourg on comparison websites such as TopAssur.

Home contents/renters insurance in Luxembourg

Contents insurance typically forms part of a combined home insurance in Luxembourg. However, you can choose to just take out sole home contents insurance if you wish. This type of insurance is sometimes called renters or tenants insurance as it is popular among renters in Luxembourg who need to protect personal belongings but not the building.

Companies usually sell between two and four different levels of coverage. A basic plan will protect your furniture and personal belongings from fire, storms, water, and electrical damage. You may have to pay a bit more for coverage against theft, vandalism, glass breakage, and damage to property kept in gardens.

Fully comprehensive plans will often include extras such as legal assistance, damage due to negligence, highly valuable goods, and property that you take off the premises (e.g., to work or on holiday). Top-level plans will also have higher payouts on civil liability and will usually cover the entire cost of replacing stolen or damaged goods.

However, there are limits to even the most far-reaching comprehensive policies. For example, they won’t cover wilful damage to goods and they won’t cover motor vehicles. For this, you will need to take out separate car insurance.

Home contents insurance costs in Luxembourg

Home insurance costs typically depend on a number of factors in Luxembourg. These include the value and condition of the property you want to insure, as well as factors relating to your home, location, and personal risk profile.

Contents insurance premiums in Luxembourg start at around €80-100 per annum, but you are likely to have to pay more if you have valuable goods or don’t have any security measures in place at your home. You can use a cost calculator such as this one at TopAssur to find out how much you will have to pay each year.

Building/homeowners insurance in Luxembourg

Unlike in many countries, building insurance is not a legal requirement in Luxembourg. However, many homeowners and landlords take it out for peace of mind and some mortgage providers require you to take out a basic building insurance policy as a minimum.

You can buy building insurance on its own or together with contents insurance. Basic building insurance policies will cover the shell of the building (walls, ceilings, floors) plus will usually also include coverage for kitchen and bathroom units, fixed wardrobes, and doors. Glass coverage and external structures may cost extra.

Standard policies protect against fire damage, flood damage, and storm damage. You may have to pay extra for earthquake damage, vandalism, and damage due to property faults or negligence. As with contents insurance, you can choose between different plans with most insurers. Top-level policies will usually include the likes of heating/air-conditioning units and garden pools.

Other differences between the various building insurance policy levels include the amount of civil liability protection included and the payout limit. The highest-level premium plans will usually cover the cost of a total rebuild, whereas basic plans will have a lower maximum payout limit and may only cover repair rather than replacement costs.

Costs of building insurance in Luxembourg

Building insurance premiums in Luxembourg start off at around €100 to €200 a year but can be much more for larger, more expensive properties in exclusive areas. Factors that influence these costs are building size, age, condition and value, as well as other risk factors – for example, whether you have installed security measures such as alarms, security cameras or grills/shutters on doors and windows. Find out your likely costs at TopAssur.

Combined home insurance in Luxembourg

Combined home insurance – building insurance plus contents insurance – is the standard form of household insurance in Luxembourg. Most companies sell three or four different plans (for example, basic, extra, and premium) that allow you to choose exactly what coverage you need. Alternatively, you can choose a standard policy and then add on individual elements that you need for an increased premium.

Taking out a combined home insurance policy is cheaper than paying for separate individual policies. Annual premiums start at between €150 and €250. Use this cost calculator at Bâloise to assess your annual premiums.

Liability insurance in Luxembourg

Civil liability insurance in Luxembourg is usually included within home insurance. It covers you against the costs to third parties if they injure themselves or damage their belongings due to an accident in your home or caused by your personal property.

Because this insurance typically forms part of home insurance in Luxembourg, you usually won’t need a separate policy if you’ve insured your home. However, you can take out liability insurance on its own if you don’t have home insurance but are concerned about risks to visitors to your property. You can also take out a tailored policy, or extend the liability coverage on your home insurance plan, to include specific risks such as damages to third parties caused by pets, bicycles, or while playing sports.

Those renting property in Luxembourg might also want to think about taking out liability coverage to protect themselves in the event of damages to property belonging to the landlord.

Costs for individual liability insurance depend on type of policy you take out as well as the maximum payout threshold you choose. Prices start at around €50 a year.

How to choose home insurance in Luxembourg

Of course, you will want to shop around for the cheapest premium when looking for home insurance in Luxembourg. But other factors to bear in mind are:

• What is included and excluded, and to what extent you can tailor the policy to suit your needs so that you don’t end up paying for cover you don’t need or missing out anything important.
• What kind of discounts, incentives, or special offers are linked to the policy?
• How much is covered in terms of damages or losses in the event of a payout
• How easy it is to make a claim. Can you do everything online?
• Company feedback or reputation. Check customer reviews and online ratings.
• Company performance in terms of ethics and sustainability. You can check company ratings and performance on sites such as CSR Hub or Standard Ethics.

Applying for home insurance in Luxembourg

The process for taking out a home insurance policy in Luxembourg is fairly straightforward. Typically, you can either take out a policy online by filling in a quote form and selecting your coverage level, or contact a local agent by email, phone, or by visiting an outlet near you.

You will usually need to provide your address, contact details, and bank details. If you are taking out a combined policy with building insurance, it may be a good idea to get a professional valuation on the property as well as accurate information on its size to avoid any complications in the event of a claim.

Standard policies will last twelve months and may automatically renew if you don’t cancel within the notice period.

How to make a home insurance claim in Luxembourg

Each insurance firm has its own claims procedure. With some you can file a claim online. Others may ask you to submit your claim over the phone. Typically you will have to provide:

• Personal details linked to your policy, such as name and address
• Insurance policy number
• Details of your claim, such as what has happened and when, including pictures if possible in the event of damage

See an example claim form from AXA insurance.

You will probably be assigned a claims manager and a claims reference number. If your claim is straightforward, it should take no more than a few weeks to resolve. Be sure to file your claim as soon as you can after the incident. Some insurance firms impose deadlines for filing a claim, after which you may need a reason for filing late. The legal deadline for insurance claims in Luxembourg is three years after the event.

Canceling a contract or changing provider

You are usually free to cancel an insurance contract in Luxembourg at any time as long as you give enough notice. However, this may be different if you have signed up for a contract for a particular duration, in which case you may have to pay an exit fee.

Notice periods on home insurance contracts in Luxembourg can be anything from a couple of weeks to three months. Also bear in mind that contracts may be automatically renewing, meaning that they will extend past the expiry date if you don’t cancel with at least minimum notice.

If you want to cancel, inform your insurer in writing and give clear reasons along with the date you wish to terminate the contract.

All insurers in Luxembourg should give you a 14-day cooling off period when you first sign up, during which you can cancel without a penalty.

Making a complaint about an insurance company in Luxembourg

If you are unsatisfied with the service you have received regarding your home insurance in Luxembourg, or feel that you have been treated unfairly, you should follow these steps:

• Firstly, try to settle the matter with the complaints team of your insurer. Information on the process for this should be on the company website as well as provided to you when you sign up. Typically, this will involve submitting a written complaint and giving the company up to 90 days to offer a resolution.
• If the company doesn’t respond, or you are unhappy with their offer, you can escalate the complaint to the Insurance Ombudsman.

Holiday home insurance in Luxembourg

If you own a holiday home in Luxembourg, you might need to take out special insurance as many standard home insurance policies don’t cover properties for long periods of time. Holiday home insurance can also cover associated risks such as loss of rental income on a property.

You can find insurers in Luxembourg that provide this coverage, often called unoccupied home insurance. Alternatively, you can choose to take out a policy with a global holiday home insurance specialist such as IntaSure.

Useful resources

• Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA) – insurance regulator for Luxembourg
• TopAssur – insurance comparison website