Recognition of the state of natural disaster allows victims benefiting from a damage insurance contract (comprehensive home, business, automobile, etc.) to be compensated for material damage due to flooding.
Natural disaster cover
The decree determines the zones and periods of the natural disaster as well as the nature of the damage (floods, mudslides, landslides, mechanical shocks linked to the action of the waves, etc.).
A legal deductible is always the responsibility of the insured. It amounts to:
- 380 euros for goods for residential and non-professional use;
- for goods for professional use, the amount of the deductible is equal to 10% of the direct material damage with a minimum of 1,140 euros.
However, for damage to property for professional use, it is the deductible provided for in the contract that will be applied, if it is higher than these amounts.
For goods other than motorized land vehicles, in the event of repetitive claims and if the municipality does not have a risk prevention plan (PPR), the deductible is adjusted according to the number of findings of the state of natural disaster that occurred, for the same risk, during the five years preceding the date of the new finding. It is doubled at the third stop noting the catastrophe, tripled at the fourth and quadrupled for the following stops.
Compensation in the event of a natural disaster
The deadlines to be respected
Notify your insurer as soon as possible and by any means (email, telephone, etc.).
When it comes to an event covered by natural disaster cover, however, you have a period of ten days after the publication of the decree to submit your declaration of loss.
The compensation is awarded, except in cases of force majeure (for example, as long as the decline did not allow the appraisal to be carried out), within a period of three months from either the date on which you gave the insurer the estimate of the property and the losses suffered, or, if later, the date of publication of the order.
Precautionary measures
- Try to take the necessary measures to prevent the damage from getting worse.
- Keep, as far as possible, supporting documents (photographs, videos, testimonials from neighbors), if you have to carry out immediate clearings.
- Take your damaged vehicle to your garage or to the garage approved by your insurance company as soon as possible.
The documents to be produced
Send your insurer a description of the damage suffered and a list of all the lost or damaged objects.
To attest to the existence and value of the destroyed or damaged property, you can produce all types of documents: purchase or repair invoices, notarial deeds, rental contracts, appraisals, photographs, etc.
For professional property, prepare the certificate of ownership or the rental contract for property damage, an extract from the commercial register, the balance sheets and income statements with details of the expense and product accounts, the turnover of the current year and the previous three (if you have taken out operating loss cover or a leasing contract).
Expertise
If necessary, your insurer will appoint, at its expense, a professional expert who will set the amount of damages in agreement with you.
If the damage is significant, or even very significant – damage to the structure of your home, loss of valuable furniture – it is always possible to be assisted, at your expense, by an expert of your choice.
Your insurer will be able to advise you usefully, given the extent of the damage suffered and the guarantees granted by your contract, on the advisability or not of the intervention of an expert, and if necessary, on the choice of said expert.