What does contents insurance cover in Denmark?
Contents insurance, indboforsikring in Danish, covers your belongings if they are damaged or stolen, for example by fire, water damage, burglary, theft or vandalism, and it includes liability cover for when you accidentally injure someone or damage their things. In Denmark, home insurance is split into two policies: indboforsikring for your belongings and husforsikring for the building, which you only need if you own a house. Accidents, such as dropping your phone or sitting on your glasses, are usually only covered if you have bought an add-on.
What contents insurance covers, and what it doesn't
| Event | Covered? | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Fire, lightning and explosion | Yes | Part of the basic cover |
| Water damage | Yes | Water from pipes and installations, e.g. a burst pipe |
| Storm and cloudburst | Usually yes | Check that weather damage is listed in your policy. Storm is usually only covered if the building is damaged too, and not for things kept outdoors |
| Burglary and theft at home | Yes | Many insurers also cover distraction theft (tricktyveri) at home |
| Theft away from home | Usually yes, with limits | Jewellery, cash and other valuables often have special limits or are excluded. For bikes, see below |
| Vandalism | Usually yes | At some insurers only in or at your home. Bikes have special rules, see below |
| Your liability to others | Yes | See the section on liability cover |
| Temporary housing | Usually yes | If your home becomes uninhabitable after covered damage, e.g. a fire |
| Glass and sanitary ware, e.g. a broken window or toilet bowl | Often as an add-on | Relevant if you rent and your landlord does not cover it |
| Accidents, e.g. a dropped phone | Only with an add-on at most insurers | Often called sudden damage (pludselig skade) or accident cover. For electronics, many insurers require a separate electronics add-on, see below |
| Forgotten or lost items | No | Loss without theft is not covered |
| Wear and tear | No | Not with add-ons either |
The table shows what a standard contents policy covers. The limits and add-ons on your own policy are in your policy terms.
Liability cover in your contents insurance
Contents insurance almost always includes liability cover, known in Danish as privatansvar. It pays if you or someone else in your household injures another person or damages their things and is legally liable for it. If you cycle into a parked car, liability cover pays. If you knock a friend's expensive speaker off the table while visiting, you are often not legally liable, but most liability policies still cover this kind of guest damage (gæstebudsskade), usually with a deductible.
Liability cover does not cover damage to your own things, damage you cause on purpose or while drunk, and usually not damage to things you have borrowed or rented. Most contents policies also include legal expenses cover (retshjælp), which pays part of your lawyer's fees if you end up in a private legal dispute.
Who is covered by contents insurance?
Contents insurance covers everyone in your household who is registered at the same address as you in the Danish population register (folkeregisteret): your spouse or partner, your children and anyone else living with you permanently. If your partner lives with you without being registered at the address, for example because only one of you has registered the move, their things are generally not covered. If a child moves out, check whether they are still covered by your policy or need their own.
Deductibles and depreciation
The deductible (selvrisiko) is the amount you pay yourself when a claim is approved. You choose it when you take out the policy, and the higher the deductible, the lower the price. It is subtracted from the payout on every claim, and some add-ons have their own fixed deductible. If your deductible is DKK 2,000 and a DKK 1,500 jacket is stolen, you get nothing.
Depreciation (afskrivning) means the payout is reduced because the item has got older. For things that lose value quickly, insurers use fixed depreciation tables. This applies to electronics, bikes and glasses, for example.
Some contents policies have no overall sum insured. Others have a sum insured that should match the value of everything you own. If the sum is too low, you may get less than your things are worth.
Does contents insurance cover glasses?
Your glasses are part of your contents and are covered like everything else: against fire, water damage, burglary and theft. But if you sit on them, drop them or get them knocked off during sport, you usually need an add-on to be covered. At some insurers that is a separate glasses add-on, because the general sudden damage add-on does not cover glasses. Some contents policies also cover your belongings in a traffic accident, so your glasses may be covered if you fall off your bike. If your glasses were cheap, the deductible on the add-on may be higher than the payout.
Does contents insurance cover your phone and laptop?
Your phone, laptop and TV are covered if they are stolen or destroyed by fire or water damage. If you drop your phone on the pavement or knock coffee over the keyboard, the damage is usually only covered if you have bought extended electronics cover as an add-on to your contents policy. The add-on can also cover breakdowns, but usually only for the first four years.
The alternative is to insure individual items on their own. Frankly Care covers your phone or laptop against accidents with no depreciation, wherever you have your contents insurance. It does not cover theft, so theft still belongs on your contents policy. Frankly Care has to be taken out within 30 days of buying the item new in Denmark.
Does contents insurance cover your bike?
Your bike is generally covered against theft by your contents insurance. The requirements are almost always the same: the bike must have been locked with an approved lock, you must be able to give its frame number, and the theft must be reported to the police. However, contents insurance only covers up to a set amount per bike, so if you have an expensive bike or e-bike, you need extended bike cover to get a higher limit.
Crashes are a different matter. Contents insurance does not normally cover your bike if it is damaged because you fall off or ride into something, and vandalism to your bike is often only covered at your home or in connection with theft or attempted theft. Forsikringsoplysningen explains the rules for bikes (in Danish). If you want your bike covered against both theft and crashes in one policy, you can insure it on its own with Frankly Mobility.
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