Does French natural disaster insurance cover wildfires?
Since most wildfires are caused by human activity, this affects insurance claims
Reader Question: Our second home is in Landes, close to the fires last week. We are concerned that if the building is damaged in a fire, what happens regarding our insurance. Are there any special insurance rules such as those for floods?
Hundreds of homes have been destroyed across southern France this year due to wildfires raging across the country.
Properties damaged by wildfires, however, do not fall under the catastrophe naturelle (natural disaster) insurance scheme.
This scheme provides properties damaged by natural disasters – floods, droughts leading to soil shrinking and wall cracks, earthquakes, landslides, etc – with a special claims process.
Local authorities demand natural disaster status (or rarely, it is automatically conferred by government ministers) and then all owners of properties damaged in the region have 30 days from the status being granted to make their claims. More information is available here.
Most wildfires caused by humans
Similarly to storms (excluding cyclones and hurricanes), snow, and hail, the catastrophe naturelle scheme does not apply to properties damaged by wildfires.
While for storms special certificates help with claims, wildfires receive no such distinction.
Insurers state that this is due to the origin of most wildfires in France: around 90% of fires are caused by human activity rather than weather patterns.
This includes both malicious activities, accidental causes (discarded cigarette butts, BBQ, etc) and fires started on worksites, the suspected cause of the recent major blaze in Gironde.
Damage from wildfires are therefore classified under standard home insurance policies, with no changes to deductibles or other rules included in the document.
However, insurers usually prolong the deadline for reporting damage (typically five days following an incident) for major wildfires, as people may be unable to get back to their properties or company buildings in time.
This is the case for the fires in Gironde, Landes and Var this year, where deadlines to report damage have been extended with most insurance companies until August 31.
In an exceptional measure following the Gironde wildfire, insurers said they would cover temporary rehousing costs for those evacuated, however this came following a negotiation between France’s insurance federation and the government.
Such offers are usually only given if already included in a policy.
Note that insurance policies specific to second homes may see longer deadlines for reporting issues, including wildfire damage.
The offer to cover rehousing costs also typically only applies to main homes so may not include second homes.
Ensure you clear undergrowth
Homeowners should however remember that payouts are dependent on proving they have correctly followed regulations and safety precautions.
In the case of wildfires, this includes undergrowth clearance – around 90% of homes damaged by wildfires failed to correctly clear undergrowth around their property.
Insurers may not approve claims if such clearance was not made, with increasing calls for stricter enforcement of these policies to encourage homeowners to comply with the rules.
