After the passage of storms Eunice and Franklin in the north of France, on February 18 and 20, the victims of the Somme must report their damage to the insurers as soon as possible. In Abbeville, very affected, some agencies are indeed very busy and claim to do their best. But other policyholders are less fortunate and the shock of the claim is compounded by slow procedures.
Home most affected, exhausting red tape
Rue Leday in Abbeville, Marie-Christine is the most affected resident of the city, in the opinion of the town hall. Friday, February 18, strong winds lift the frame of his chalet and bend its roof in two. After the storms, the resident remains two good days without a roof, for lack of finding an available roofer, and the water infiltrates.
– Celine Austin
Its ceilings show traces of humidity : “it takes in my luster, observes, annoyed, Marie-Christine. Water is vicious, it goes everywhere! I have it in my two bedrooms, my bathroom, my kitchen… there are bigger misfortunes than that, but it’s very unpleasant.” Marie-Christine no longer sleeps at home, exhausted from having to mop up the dripping water. She removed her furniture and blankets to put them under cover.
It’s an obstacle course – Marie-Christine, the most affected resident of Abbeville
Barely an hour after the incident, the resident informed her insurance. She gets an expert on the phone … who does not take the measure of what is happening to him : “these people don’t move, and that’s not normal. They don’t even know if it’s a chalet, to begin with, if I have sheet metal or tiles. And then in the end, they made me an expertise of 3,000 euros in damage! In the end, I’m fine! Or else they think I’m going to stay in a garden shed!” Marie-Christine protests and gets an expert to come at the end of the week. She says her fatigue:apart from the shock, I will be more worn out with [le manque de] speed, the people who make me go to the right, to the left: it’s the obstacle course.”
Insurers flexible on the five-day period for declaring a claim
Marie-Christine’s insurance is in Paris. We went to another insurance agency in Abbeville to see how the files of individual victims are handled. Sylvie Lallot, insurance agent rue des Teinturiers, assures them of their good care: “normally the deadline for declaring a claim is five days, but here we will double. We still receive requests, sometimes some do not realize right away, or those who have second homes and who are not immediately aware of the damage.”
Five days after Eunice’s visit, her agency must manage 35 to 40 files. And as underlined by the Minister of the Interior, the damage caused by the wind and by the infiltrations are taken care of by the insurances thanks to the guarantee envisaged by each contract. Sylvie Lallot confirms: “We reassure customers: all our residential, multi-risk professional and agricultural contracts on real estate all have weather and storm guarantees. Then you have to prepare a file with photos.“
On the side of the municipality, we wait recognition of the state of natural disaster. Around 30 municipal buildings were damaged during the two storms. And the deductible is not the same: 1,500 euros for all buildings if the state of natural disaster is recognized, 1,500 euros by building if it is not.