Centraal Beheer reports more than 207,000 weather-damage claims over a decade

Centraal Beheer received 207,432 claims for weather-related damage to insured homes between 2016 and 2025, with about 60 per cent paid out, according to figures reported by the insurer. The claims resulted in €180.3 million in compensation, the company said.

The figures, reported by Dutch news agency ANP, show that around two-thirds of claims not paid were not pursued by customers. Some people repaired the damage themselves; others had claims below their excess, a Centraal Beheer spokesperson said. About 6 per cent of claims were rejected, for example because damage was linked to maintenance that had been neglected and could have been prevented.

Claims for damage caused by heavy rain per insured home were about 14 per cent higher in the past five years than in the preceding period, the insurer’s figures show. Centraal Beheer and other insurers said on Monday they had received more than 1,000 damage reports after stormy weather in the Netherlands late last week.

The report also cited a survey of more than 1,000 Dutch residents commissioned by Centraal Beheer. Nearly half said in August that they were concerned about climate change affecting their homes, up from 35 per cent the previous year. Some respondents said they lacked the money to make their homes more climate-resilient or depended on a landlord or owners’ association to do so.

Ted Veldkamp, a climate and water lecturer at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, said many Dutch homes, particularly older ones, were not designed for heavy rainfall, prolonged drought or heat. She argued that adapting homes to climate risks should be built into maintenance, renovation and new construction, while noting that not all weather-related damage can be prevented or is covered by insurance.