Glossary
Belgian contracts use vocabulary that rarely survives translation: EAN code, bonus-malus, omnium, prosumer tariff, Easy Switch, health index, blocked rental guarantee. Each entry gives a one-sentence definition, then explains what the term changes in practice on your bill or your cover.
- Abandon de recours (waiver of recourse)
- Bancontact
- Bank mobility service
- Bonus-malus
- Cap (variable rate ceiling)
- EAN code
- Easy Switch
- Guarantee of origin
- itsme
- National register number
- Omnium
- Quotité (loan-to-value)
- Règle proportionnelle (proportional rule)
- Rental guarantee (garantie locative)
- Solde restant dû (mortgage life insurance)
- Ticket modérateur (patient co-payment)
Why this glossary exists
Most contractual surprises in Belgium come from a misunderstood word rather than a hidden clause. A tenant who does not know what the health index does signs a lease without realising the rent will move every year. A driver who ignores the bonus-malus history certificate starts a new policy from the wrong step. A homeowner who never reads the valuation grid discovers the proportionality rule on the day of a claim.
Every entry follows the same shape: a definition you can quote as it stands, then the practical consequence for you. We favour practical scope over exhaustive legal accuracy, which belongs to the general terms of your own contract.