Car vandalism insurance in Belgium: covered at €474 a year

Only full omnium (comprehensive cover) usually pays for vandalism in Belgium, and it costs €474 a year more than mini-omnium. Third-party liability never pays for your own bodywork. Against a €250 scratch, a €500 deductible even makes omnium pointless: better to pay the bill yourself.

Is vandalism covered by car insurance in Belgium?

It depends on the policy level, and mini-omnium disappoints. It covers theft, fire, glass breakage and natural events. Not vandalism. The information sheet from Ethias excludes "acts of vandalism" in so many words from its Mini Omnium and Mini Omnium Plus formulas, and the AXA presentation page read on 5 October 2026 lists vandalism under Full Omnium only, next to at-fault damage.

The damage amounts in this table are calculation hypotheses, not recorded prices. Net payouts deduct a €500 deductible.

Does third-party liability pay anything?

No. Nothing.

How much does the cover that includes vandalism cost?

€474 a year on average: that is what full omnium adds to mini-omnium on the public grid of nine insurers read on 26 January 2026. Vandalism is not sold separately. You get it by stepping up a whole layer, the material-damage layer, and its price varies by a factor of three from one company to the next.

The arithmetic is simple. Damage minus the €500 deductible gives the net payout, and the net payout divided by the supplement gives the number of years paid for.

How many scratches does it take to make full omnium pay off?

Far too many, if vandalism is your only reason. At a €474 supplement and a €500 deductible, the yearly probability of a claim that repays the premium is 474 divided by the damage minus 500. Over five years the cumulative supplement reaches €2,370.

For €1,200 of damage, you would have to be vandalised more than two years out of three. No driver lives that. Vandalism alone never justifies full omnium, and it is the other half of the cover, at-fault damage to your own car, that makes or breaks the trade-off. Our calculations on insured value and the break-even of an omnium are in the article on the cost of comprehensive car insurance, and the choice between the two levels in mini-omnium or full omnium.

Should you report a scratched car?

Not if the scratch is light. A bodywork renovation flat rate for one or two panels costs on average €199 at idGarages, €250 for most models, plus €50 for pearlescent paint (read on 5 October 2026). The €500 deductible is well above that: reporting would pay nothing, and the file would be opened for nothing.

The calculation flips as soon as the repair exceeds the deductible. A door and a wing repainted for €1,200, by hypothesis, pay €700. Before deciding, a few checkpoints are worth running.

• A €250 scratch under a €500 deductible earns no payout, so there is nothing to trade off.
• Photograph before cleaning or repairing, otherwise the expert has nothing left to assess.
• File a police report before the claim when the contract requires it: P&V asks for one within 24 hours.
• Respect the contract's reporting deadline, eight days in most cases, under article 74 of the Belgian Insurance Act of 4 April 2014.
• Do not assume mini-omnium is enough: reread the list of covers before counting on a payout.

The general threshold between reporting and paying yourself is set out in report a claim or pay out of pocket.

Does vandalism raise your bonus-malus?

In principle no. The Belgian scale, which runs from 0 to 22 and is printed on your claims-history certificate, only tracks third-party liability claims where you are at fault, and a stranger scratching your bodywork does not put you at fault for anything. The only real cost is the deductible.

One caveat all the same, found in the article on the reporting threshold: some insurers apply a separate scale to the material-damage cover of an omnium policy. Reread the table in your general conditions before relying on the rule. For at-fault claims, which do push the degree up for five years, the full calculation is in bonus-malus in car insurance.

What should you do in the first 24 hours after vandalism?

Three steps, in this order. First, photographs of the damage and of the surroundings, before any repair. Next the police report: at P&V it must be filed within 24 hours for vandalism and for a collision with a wild animal, and other insurers set their own deadline in their general conditions, so do not wait. Finally the claim to the company, with the policy number, a description of the facts and the police record, within the contract deadline, eight days in most cases. The full procedure is in report a car insurance claim in Belgium: this article does not redo it.

Method, reference profile and sources

Omnium supplements come from the three public grids of Mon-Assurance-Auto, published by Yago (a broker licensed by the FSMA, Belgium's financial services and markets authority, no. 114863), dated 26 January 2026 and read on 2 September 2026 for our article on omnium prices. The simulated profile is a female driver born in 1968, on the lowest bonus-malus degree, with a VW Golf Diesel 85 kW worth €33,193 including VAT, in Walloon Brabant, under 10,000 km a year, €500 deductible (€600 at ING). It differs from this site's reference profile (a 35-year-old driver, Golf 1.5 TSI, Flemish Brabant, zero claims in five years): absolute amounts do not transpose as they stand, but the gaps between levels and insurers do.

The grid prices the material-damage layer that is added to mini-omnium. Whether that layer includes vandalism depends on the contract: we checked the Ethias and AXA documents, and another insurer may place vandalism elsewhere. The damage amounts of €1,200, €1,800, €2,400 and €3,500 are calculation hypotheses, with no recorded price behind them. The cost of a light scratch comes from the idGarages flat rate, read on 5 October 2026. The 24-hour police deadline is the one in the P&V claims sheet. The principle of compensation on repair cost or insured value is set out by Wikifin, the FSMA's financial education portal. All premiums quoted include Belgium's tax on insurance premiums, which is already built into insurers' advertised prices.

This site compares and calculates. It does not sell insurance, is not an intermediary and gives no individual recommendation: your general conditions prevail, and the Insurance Ombudsman steps in if there is a dispute. No insurer pays for its presence here and no link is affiliated. The calculations, like the ranking of the best car insurers, continue in the simulator and the comparison tool.

The threshold to remember: €974

A vandalism loss must exceed €974 to repay a single year of the average omnium supplement. Below that, pay yourself and do not report for nothing. Above it, report, file a police report within 24 hours and respect the contract deadline.