June earthquake in France: Who is in official natural disaster zone?

Thirteen communes have been declared as being within a natural disaster zone following last month’s earthquake in western France.

The tremor, between 5.3 and 5.8 magnitude on the Richter scale, hit on June 16 in the department of Charente-Maritime.

It caused hundreds of people to be evacuated and damaged 5,000 buildings, several hundred of them seriously.

The cost of the earthquake could be as much as €350million, according to the public insurance company la Caisse centrale de réassurance (CCR).

The communes declared as natural disaster sites

Now 13 communes near the earthquake’s epicentre have been declared as natural disaster zones.

It means residents in those communes can now apply to their insurance companies for compensation.

The communes are:

• Arçais

• Benon

• Cram-Chaban (which was the epicentre of the earthquake)

• La Grève-sur-Mignon

• La Laigne

• Marans

• Mauzé-sur-le-Mignon

• Saint-Georges-du-Bois

• Saint-Hilaire-la-Palud

• Saint-Jean-de-Liversay

• Saint-Pierre-d’Amilly

• Saint-Sauveur-d’Aunis

• Saint-Saturnin-du-Bois

After the earthquake, the government launched a fast-track application procedure for local communes to apply to be recognised on the list.

On June 29, an inter-ministerial team assessed the claims, before the list of communes was published on July 7.

For communes that applied to be recognised as a state of natural disaster but were “not listed in the decree… their applications will be examined at forthcoming meetings of the interministerial commission,” said the Charente-Maritime prefecture.

Alongside the 13 communes declared in a state of natural disaster due to the earthquake, a number of others across France were also designated the title due to landslides, mudslides and flooding.

The full list of communes recognised on July 7 (not including those already recognised previously) can be found here (in French).

What does the decree do?

Residents in these communes can apply for compensation from their home insurance companies, providing they have a multi-risk insurance policy (assurance multirisques habitation).

Most policies will include this, however – you just have to check yours to make sure, before contacting your insurer.

Requests must be made within 30 days of the decree being published (no later than August 7, although it is recommended to do it as soon as possible), and the compensation usually arrives within three months.

Second-home owners affected can also apply for compensation – our article on the drought-based natural disaster zones decreed earlier this year provides more information on how to apply.

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