Help! So when is an "All Risk Homeowners/Household Insurance" NOT all risk Insurance?
We have a Policy that, as far as can be seen, covers everything. However in November we unfortunately suffered damage when there was severe flooding. The water went inside our garage, ruining a lot of tools and equipment.
We have just received a letter from our Insurers advising that "unless there was a Declaration of a Catastrophe Naturelle", they, the Insurers, are not liable.
Can this be correct? And I wonder if anybody knows of any organisation I could approach to get clarification on this.
According to the contract, we ARE covered for natural disasters, floods, etc. etc. but the Insurance Company - MACIF - is now not wanting to pay. I have been doing some digging around to see what the problem, or rather the solution, is.
Somewhere very small and hidden away (I have still not found this Clause but MACIF say it's in there in the Contract) it is stated that certain events can only happen x number of times in Y number of years.
A couple of years ago, there was a severe storm causing widespread damage in our area.
In 1999, when we were not even living here, or even the owners of the property, there was severe local storm and water damage.
The Insurance Assessor phoned the previous Owner, and ascertained there HAD been an earlier incident. The previous owners were not even insured with MACIF!
So now they say that as there have been 2 claims in FIFTEEN YEARS, they will not be liable for the third. I feel this rather odd, particularly when one of the incidents was nothing to do with us, or MACIF.
Normally if you have a "Assurance Habitation" surnamed Tous risques" or "Multi-risque you are, by law, also insured for damage caused by natural disasters. As the payments for these damages will be done by the state, but through your insurance company, that same state, represented by the préfecture, needs to declare the "état de catastrophe". You need to hand in your demands within 10 days of that declaration.
yes it can, you need to read the policy to see what is and what isn't covered. It's the same with car insurance or any other insurance for that matter. What is covered varies from company to company and from policy to policy within each company.
Bonne chance !