7 Home Upgrades Belgians Should Tell Their Fire Insurer About

Belgium’s FSMA

This is not a newly announced renovation tax or a blanket rule requiring every replacement tap or cupboard to be declared. It reflects the continuing obligation to keep an insurer correctly informed about the insured risk. Belgium’s Federal Public Service Economy says policyholders must spontaneously report elements they believe could influence that risk, both when taking out insurance and while the contract is running.

The distinction matters because Belgian fire insurance—usually called a woningverzekering or assurance habitation—covers far more than flames. The FSMA says it commonly covers material damage caused by fire, explosion, storms and natural disasters, as well as certain liability claims. The eventual payment nevertheless depends on the cover, exclusions and valuation method written into the individual contract.

First, report a substantially upgraded kitchen or bathroom. Replacing a worn unit with a broadly equivalent one may not transform the insured value, but premium fittings, built-in equipment, new plumbing or the conversion of an attic into bedrooms and a bathroom can change the reconstruction cost. Wikifin explicitly uses the attic conversion as an example of work that should be signalled.

Second, report extensions and structural changes, including a veranda, extra room, converted garage or altered number of living spaces. Insurers often use an evaluation grid based on characteristics such as room count and construction type. If those answers no longer describe the property, the grid should be updated.

Third, report energy installations. VRT NWS

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Fourth, flag expensive fixed installations such as a heat pump, home battery, fitted air-conditioning system or high-value built-in appliances. Whether each item belongs to the building or contents section depends on the policy, so the useful question is not merely what it cost but how the contract classifies it.

Fifth, mention major purchases of furniture, electronics, art or jewellery when household contents are insured up to a stated amount. Wikifin includes valuable furniture among the changes that can affect insurance needs. Jewellery and artworks may also face specific limits or require separate identification; the answer cannot safely be generalised across insurers.

Sixth, notify the insurer when the property’s use changes—for example, when part of the home becomes professional premises, a rental unit or regularly occupied accommodation. Such changes can affect both the risk assessment and the appropriate form of cover.

Seventh, ask for a review when removing installations or reducing the building. Overinsurance does not normally produce a larger payout, because insurance compensates the insured loss rather than creating a profit. Assuralia’s framing therefore includes changes that lower reconstruction value as well as those that raise it.

Insurers and regulators approach the issue from related but distinct positions. Assuralia stresses accurate reconstruction values and the avoidance of under- or overinsurance. Wikifin, an independent financial-education initiative of the FSMA, adds an important consumer safeguard: when the insurer’s evaluation grid was completed correctly and remains accurate, the insurer cannot invoke underinsurance through the proportional-value rule described in its guidance.

If a property is underinsured, the financial consequences can be serious. Wikifin illustrates the mechanism with a home whose correct new-build value is €350,000 but which was insured for €250,000: on €50,000 of damage, the proportional calculation produces compensation of about €35,714. That example is explanatory, not a forecast of how every claim will be settled.

The practical next step is to send the broker or insurer a short written description after significant work, with invoices, plans or photographs where useful, and ask whether the evaluation grid, insured amounts or premium must change. Keep the reply with the policy. The unresolved point will always be contract-specific: precisely which purchases and renovations must be signalled, and whether they change the price, can only be confirmed by the insurer.