Insurance expertise in Belgium: who assesses your claim and how to defend it

A trilingual market with its own vocabulary

Belgian claims practice runs in French, Dutch and, in the east of the country, German. The words matter because they appear in policies and letters. The person sent by the insurer is usually called the expert of the company (expert de la compagnie, expert van de maatschappij). The professional you hire yourself is the policyholder's expert, often described as a counter-expert (contre-expert, tegenexpert). When the two cannot agree, a third expert (tiers expert, derde expert) may be called in to decide.

Beyond these, courts appoint judicial experts in litigation, and specialised loss adjusters handle large commercial and industrial files. Knowing which role someone holds tells you whose interests they are paid to serve.

The legal and supervisory backdrop

Insurance contracts in Belgium are governed mainly by the Insurance Act of 4 April 2014, which consolidated earlier legislation on land insurance contracts. The Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) supervises conduct of business, while the National Bank of Belgium oversees the prudential soundness of insurers. Assuralia represents the insurance industry.

For a policyholder, the most practical consequence is that the policy wording, the general and special conditions, and the expertise clause they contain define how a disagreement over the amount of loss must be handled. Reading that clause early prevents procedural mistakes later.

How a contradictory assessment usually unfolds

After you report a loss, the insurer decides whether to send an expert. For modest claims it may settle on the basis of quotes and photographs; for larger ones an expert visits, records the damage and estimates its value. If you appoint your own expert, the two meet on site, compare figures and try to sign a joint report, sometimes called a procès-verbal d'expertise.

Where they reach agreement, that figure normally becomes the basis of the indemnity, subject to the policy limits, deductible and any exclusions the insurer may still invoke. Where they disagree on the valuation, many Belgian policies provide for the two experts to choose a third expert, and if they cannot agree on that choice, for the president of the competent court to appoint one.

• Report the claim promptly and in writing, keeping a copy.
• Take measures to limit further damage and keep invoices for those measures.
• Do not discard damaged items before the experts have seen them, unless safety requires it and you have documented them.
• Ask for every report in writing and read it before signing.

Valuation versus coverage disputes

An expertise procedure is designed to settle how much the damage is worth, not whether the policy covers it. If the insurer refuses cover altogether, for example by citing an exclusion or late notification, a counter-expert can help document the facts, but the dispute itself is contractual and may end up with the Ombudsman or a court. Separating the two questions keeps expectations realistic.

When an independent expert is worth considering

Appointing your own expert makes most sense when the stakes are high, the damage is technical, or the insurer's first figure looks far below repair quotes. Typical cases include a house fire, structural water damage, a business interruption loss, or damage affecting several co-owners in an apartment building.

A practical point specific to Belgium: many home fire policies include cover for the fees of the expert chosen by the policyholder, generally capped by a sliding scale linked to the indemnity. The level and conditions differ between insurers, so check your special conditions before assuming the cost is fully reimbursed.

Perils that shape Belgian claims

Water damage from leaking pipes and roofs is among the most frequent household claims. Storms bring wind and hail damage, and the July 2021 floods in the provinces of Liège and Namur showed how severe overland flooding can be. Belgian home fire policies for simple risks generally include natural catastrophe cover, which brings floods, earthquakes and similar events into the standard expertise process, within the limits set by the contract.

Other recurring themes include fire in older terraced housing, damage in co-ownership buildings where several policies overlap, and disputes over obsolescence deductions applied to buildings and contents.

Court experts and the judicial route

If negotiation fails, either side can ask a court to appoint a judicial expert. That expert works for the court, must respect the adversarial principle, invites both parties to meetings and issues a report the judge can rely on. Belgium keeps a national register of judicial experts, which is meant to guarantee minimum qualifications and independence.

Judicial expertise takes longer and costs more than a contractual procedure, and the advance on fees may have to be paid by the party requesting it. It is usually a last resort, but sometimes the only way to break a deadlock on causes or amounts.

Mediation through the Insurance Ombudsman

Before going to court, consumers can turn to the Ombudsman des Assurances / Ombudsman van de Verzekeringen, an independent body that handles complaints against insurers and intermediaries. The usual expectation is that you first complain to the insurer's own complaints department. The Ombudsman's opinion is not a judgment, but it often unlocks files that have stalled.

Belgium offers a structured path from contradictory expertise to mediation and the courts; knowing each step helps you act in time. For peril-specific guides and fee explanations, browse the other country pages on expertdassure.com.