Natural disasters: floods and hurricanes

Flooding, drought, storms and wildfires

All standard ‘dommage’ (damage) insurance policies in France have the CatNat clause, the natural disaster (‘catastrophe naturelle’) clause under which most climate damage claims are filed. 

Created in 1982 as a state-backed insurance mechanism, the scheme ensures people and businesses are compensated for material damage caused by exceptional natural events, if and when the government officially declares an event to be a ‘catastrophe naturelle’. The system operates on mutualization, with all policyholders contributing via a CatNat surcharge in their insurance premiums.

At the end of 2025 consumer association UFC-Que Choisir published a call for “an urgent reform of the insurance model” faced with rising tension from climate change, highlighting rising home insurance policy costs at a predicted rate of 8-11% for the year ahead. 

The association stated that increased claims caused a rise on average from €25 to €42 for the natural disaster coverage part of home insurance policies, with policyholders being required to pay more for less coverage. 

On January 1, 2025, the CatNat surcharge increased from 12% to 20%, and remains in place as such at the time of writing.

Uninsurable areas?

Premiums can rise more for claims for climate-related damage that is not recognized as a CatNat, UFC-Que Choisir warned, and there has also been a rise in policy claims that include “exclusion clauses [that are] often vague and invoked for ‘lack of maintenance’”.

Similarly, many policies now say that “outbuildings are not covered…depriving policyholders of compensation despite obvious damage”, it added.

Insurance premiums can vary considerably depending on the area, with many homeowners in some at-risk regions struggling to find affordable policies, the association said. “UFC-Que Choisir is therefore alerting people to the emergence of potentially uninsurable areas,” it warned.

How to check your area

The state insurance office la Caisse Centrale de Réassurance (CCR) has an interactive map of communes’ exposure to natural risks and the history of catastrophe declarations, available on its online service Portail Catastrophes Naturelles.