Although many insurances are recommended and are essential, they are not all compulsory. These include personal liability insurance, home insurance and supplementary health insurance. We take stock of the situation and try to answer your questions about what is necessary, compulsory or simply useful
To begin with, very few insurances are legally compulsory in Luxembourg (imposed by law). On the other hand, you should know that some are contractually compulsory, i.e. imposed by contract. Finally, there are others, which are either useful or indispensable depending on the case, but which are never compulsory!
1. Insurance required by law in Luxembourg
Motor liability insurance
Are you a motorist? Car or motorbike liability insurance is one of the legally required civil liability insurances in Luxembourg. Caravans and trailers are also covered by this obligation.
We are talking about compulsory third-party insurance. Comprehensive insurance, driver's insurance, assistance and legal protection are optional.
Third-party liability insurance only covers damage that you may cause to third parties. For example, if you are involved in an accident with another vehicle, this insurance will cover the victim's bodily injury and material damage, as well as the passengers in your own vehicle.
Professional liability insurance
Some professions are obliged to take out specific insurance for their contractual liability: lawyers, doctors, architects, engineers, estate agents, etc.
This professional liability insurance covers material, immaterial and bodily damage resulting from the negligence, error or omission of self-employed persons or an employee of the company.
Specific liability insurance
Are you a hunter? Then you are obliged to take out specific liability insurance. Without this insurance, you will not be able to obtain your hunting license.
Boat liability insurance is required if you drive any kind of boat (motorboat, sailing boat, catamaran, etc.). This means that you will be covered if you hit a swimmer or another boat.
Note: This obligation concerns all boats under the Luxembourg flag as well as those operating on the country's waterways (Luxembourg or foreign).
2. Contractually compulsory insurance
Fire insurance
Legally, no one can force you to take out fire insurance. However, you may be obliged to do so by a contract or lease.
This is usually part of the clauses when you sign a mortgage. A bank will want to make sure that the property it is financing is insured.
A landlord is also entitled to require this in his lease agreement. In this case, it will be an insurance covering the rental risk, as opposed to the landlord's fire insurance.
Comprehensive insurance
Full or partial comprehensive insurance is in principle not compulsory, but it can also be imposed by the credit organization that finances your car.
In short, partial insurance provides cover against glass breakage, fire or theft of the vehicle. If you choose full cover, you will also be covered for material damage.
3. Optional insurance
Personal liability insurance
Private liability insurance is not compulsory, unless you have a dog.
That said, it would be very risky to do without private liability insurance. It covers many situations: the neighbour's window broken by your child's ball, a person who breaks his leg on the icy pavement of your house... Especially since in Luxembourg, it covers all members of your household.
Accident insurance for private life
A tumble by your child in the garden, an injury during sports training or a fall on the floor of a recently washed shop are all small incidents that private accident insurance covers.
This non-mandatory insurance quickly becomes indispensable to be covered outside of work and car journeys. In addition, private accident insurance covers both the policyholder and the people living in the policyholder's home (spouse, children, etc.). This insurance is therefore an important complement to the personal liability insurance, which only covers damage caused to third parties.
At Foyer Lux-Assurances, private accident insurance can be taken out as an optional cover of our mozaik home insurance.
Public liability insurance
Professions that are not obliged to take out insurance can always take out so-called operational liability insurance. These insurances cover their extra-contractual liability in a way similar to a private life insurance.
However, it should be noted that operational liability insurance covers damage caused to third parties, provided that this damage is related to the life of the company and not to the services provided or the profession carried out.
Health insurance and supplementary health insurance
Do you work in Luxembourg? You are automatically covered by the Caisse Nationale de Santé (CNS). However, this does not fully protect you, as the reimbursement rate is around 88% for adults.
A supplementary health insurance will allow you to benefit from a higher reimbursement. In addition, you will obtain a higher level of cover for various medical services. The majority of Luxembourgers (around 75%) have supplementary health insurance.
Foyer's medicis insurance offers two very comprehensive, modular health insurance packages.