Bought a New Car? How to Pick WA, Limited Casco or All-Risk Without Overpaying

Quick Answer: Which Cover Fits Your New Car?

You’re in the showroom or you’ve just got the keys, and the insurance question pops up. The short answer: for most brand-new cars that haven’t aged yet, all-risk (comprehensive) cover is often a logical first choice because it generally covers damage to your own vehicle and may include a new-for-old replacement rule during the first years. However, if your car is a few years old, limited casco (WA+) can be a smarter compromise: you’re then typically covered against theft, storm, and glass breakage, but your premium is significantly lower. WA (third-party liability) is the legal minimum and is usually only chosen for older cars with a lower market value where you can afford to pay for your own damage out of pocket if needed. So there’s no one-size-fits-all answer; it depends on your car’s value, your savings buffer, your claim-free years, and any requirements from your loan or lease contract. In this article, we’ll walk through a concrete step-by-step plan to find your ideal coverage level. For a broader overview on insuring a new car, see our article on smart new car insurance in the Netherlands.

The Three Cover Levels: WA, WA+ and All-Risk Explained

Car insurance in the Netherlands comes in three main forms, increasing in cover. WA (third-party liability) is mandatory for every registered vehicle and is designed to pay for damage you cause to others with your car. WA+, or limited casco, typically adds coverage for several common own-damage causes such as theft, fire, storm, and glass breakage. All-risk (comprehensive) is the most extensive, generally covering damage to your own car from collisions, parking errors, or vandalism, and often includes a new-for-old payout in the event of a total loss during the first few years. Your choice directly affects your premium, the level of your deductible, and the protection you have.

The choice between WA+ and all-risk is often driven by your car’s age. For a car between 4 and 8 years old, WA+ usually offers the best balance of premium and cover, while all-risk is most worthwhile for a young car with a high residual value. For a detailed look at when to downgrade from all-risk to WA+, our all-risk downgrade guide is a helpful resource.

Market Value and Purchase Value: What They Mean for Your Choice

Market value (dagwaarde) is what your car is worth on the second-hand market today. The purchase value is the amount you paid. For insurance, the market value is often the basis for the payout of an all-risk policy, unless your policy includes a purchase-value or new-for-old clause. Such a clause typically applies to cars up to 3 years old and pays out the original purchase price or the replacement cost if the car is a total loss. With WA+, the market value plays a smaller role because the cover mainly focuses on external causes and theft payouts are usually capped at the market value. Once your car’s market value drops below a certain point — say €4,000 — you may pay more for all-risk premiums than you could ever receive in a claim, making WA+ or even WA the more logical choice.

• Car under 3 years old: all-risk with a new-for-old clause is usually financially attractive because it protects the full investment.
• Car between 3 and 5 years: consider all-risk if the market value is still substantial; otherwise many owners switch to WA+ while keeping theft and storm cover.
• Car between 5 and 8 years: WA+ is typically the best middle ground, unless the market value is still above €7,500.
• Car over 8 years: WA is often sufficient, as the premium for higher cover no longer balances against the potential payout for own damage.

Deductible and Your Financial Buffer: How Much Can You Handle Yourself?

Nearly every car insurance comes with a deductible (eigen risico) that you must pay yourself in the event of a claim. There is usually a compulsory deductible of about €150 for third-party cover, but for casco (WA+ and all-risk) you can often choose a voluntary excess of €0, €250, €500 or higher. The higher your deductible, the lower the premium. It is crucial to match this amount to your savings: if you have enough reserve to pay the full deductible right away after an unexpected accident, you can safely consider a higher excess. If your buffer is small, a lower deductible — and a slightly higher premium — may be wiser so that a single claim doesn’t derail your finances.

• Always check whether you can afford your chosen deductible per claim without financial strain.
• A voluntary excess of €500 can reduce the annual premium by 10 to 20 percent, but if you have two claims in a year, you’ll pay €1,000 out of pocket.
• With private lease or financing, the lender may impose a maximum excess; read your contract carefully.
• If you combine a high deductible with a savings buffer of at least €1,500, you keep enough breathing room for most claim scenarios.

Want to calculate exactly how much you can save by raising your deductible? Our article on increasing your Dutch insurance deductibles gives concrete worked examples.

Claim-Free Years and the Bonus-Malus Ladder

Your claim-free years determine your bonus-malus step and thus how much premium you pay. The system works with steps: more claim-free years give a higher discount. Conversely, after a claim you usually drop several steps, which can significantly increase your premium. Therefore, when choosing a cover level it’s smart to look not only at the immediate claim payout but also at the effect on your no-claims discount over the coming years. Paying a small loss yourself can be cheaper than the long-term premium rise that a claim causes.

The exact impact varies by insurer, but a common rule of thumb is that one claim can cost you 5 to 7 bonus-malus steps. For a detailed explanation and a checklist to calculate the financial consequences, see our piece on claim-free years and their premium impact.

• Claim-free years are built up per insurance year; when you switch, you take your accumulated years with you. This is a legal right.
• If you are moving to the Netherlands from abroad, note that foreign claim-free years are not automatically recognized. You will typically need a formal, English declaration from your previous insurer to transfer them.
• If you have a negative bonus-malus (starter level), you can pay a 75 percent surcharge, making all-risk unaffordable.
• Always request a claim-prognosis calculation before submitting a claim so you know the multi-year cost picture.

Financing or Lease: What Does the Lender Require?

If you finance your new car with a loan or through private lease, the vehicle is often the collateral or owned by the financial institution. That party wants to minimise the risk of damage and usually requires you to take out all-risk cover, sometimes combined with a maximum deductible of, say, €250. Without this cover you run the risk of the loan being terminated or being left paying the full repair costs yourself after an accident. In a private lease, the lease company is the owner and arranges the insurance itself; but even then all-risk is the standard and the driver’s risk profile affects the monthly cost.

• Always read the financing or lease contract’s insurance clause. It states the minimum required cover level.
• Sometimes the bank demands a clause naming them as the beneficiary on the policy so they have direct right to the payout.
• In a private lease with a deductible you must pay yourself, you can often take out additional excess insurance to cover those costs.

Common Mistakes When Choosing Car Insurance

A wrong cover choice can cost you dearly. In practice many car buyers unconsciously make the following mistakes. They base their choice purely on emotion ('it’s a new car, so I need all-risk') without looking at the numbers. Or they pick the cheapest premium and later find out that essential things like glass cover or accessories aren’t included. Ignoring the bonus-malus impact is another classic pitfall. By recognising these common errors, you can avoid paying unnecessary premium or driving underinsured.

• Mistake 1: Choosing all-risk purely on emotion without checking the market value. A 5-year-old car with a value of €6,000 is often better insured with WA+, because the premium saving outweighs the deductible you can manage.
• Mistake 2: Comparing only premiums and ignoring the small print. A cheap all-risk policy may require repairs only at a budget garage or come with a high deductible, leaving you disappointed after a claim.
• Mistake 3: Not factoring in claim-free years. Suppose you have 2 claim-free years and choose all-risk; a claim could drop you to -5, doubling your premium. You could have avoided that by choosing WA+ and paying the minor loss yourself.
• Mistake 4: Overlooking accessories like alloy wheels, multimedia systems or roof boxes. If they’re not specifically declared, they are often not fully covered, even under all-risk.

When It Makes Sense to Have an Adviser Check

Working through all policy conditions and making a thorough comparison yourself requires time and market knowledge. Especially if your situation is a bit more complex — for example, due to a move to the Netherlands, a lease construction, or a recent claim history — an extra check by an independent advice office can be wise. Such an adviser can help you weigh the balance between premium, cover and deductible, without being tied to a specific insurer. PolisMoment is not itself an adviser, but connects you with one commission-free office that takes a non-binding look at your current insurances and offers suggestions for improvement.

If you also have a rental home or other possessions that you want to insure properly, it can be useful to look at the entire picture. For expats with a rental home we have a guide on expat rental home insurance in the Netherlands.