Many people want to be well insured, but without realizing it, they sometimes end up paying twice for the same coverage. Being double insured might sound harmless, but in reality, it often means you're throwing money away. This happens more often than you'd think, especially with home, travel, and car insurance.
Health Insurance? No worries!
When it comes to health insurance in the Netherlands, there's no need to worry. It's not possible to be covered by two health insurance providers at the same time. If you switch to a new insurer before January 1st, your old policy is automatically cancelled. You don’t need to do anything yourself.
Other insurance policies? You need to cancel them yourself
It works differently for other types of insurance. If you take out a new home, car, or travel insurance policy, your old one will not be cancelled automatically. It will continue to run until you actively cancel it. That means you could unknowingly be paying for two identical policies for months or even years.
No double payouts for claims
You might think having two policies means you’ll get double the payout when you file a claim. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Legally, a loss or damage can only be reimbursed once, even if you're insured with multiple companies for the same thing.
How to avoid paying twice
It’s a good idea to regularly review your insurance policies. If you’ve recently taken out a new one, check whether the old policy is still active. This is especially important if you use different providers for different types of insurance. Overlapping coverage is easy to miss, but it can cost you.
