BarcelonaStorms have raged in the Catalan territory in recent days. Especially, on August 31 in Bisbal d’Empordà, where an unprecedented hailstorm took the life of a baby, but also destroyed roofs, furniture and many cars. After the impact of this unprecedented weather phenomenon, it’s time to check if we have any coverage to cover the expenses caused by the damage.
In the case of cars, you need to review the insurance policy. If it’s all-risk, all damage, whether to the windows or the bodywork, is surely covered. Another situation is if the policy is to third parties. In this case, damage to the sheet metal is not covered. Another thing is if, as is quite common, the driver has broken glass cover. The insurance will then cover damage to the windshield and other glass in the car, but not any damage that may have occurred to other parts of the vehicle.
As for real estate, many home, community and business insurances cover damage caused by external water. It is necessary, however, to review the policy to see if there really is coverage for storms like the other day.
In any case, you should always re-read the policy to find out what coverage each customer has. But there is another factor to consider. The Insurance Compensation Consortium is a body that depends on the Spanish government and that takes care of some of the damages that are not included in the usual insurance policies. They are those that are considered as extraordinary phenomena, such as acts of terrorism, damage caused by the army or police in peacetime, damage caused by violent movements such as rebellion, sedition, riots or popular tumultuous actions, earthquakes , underwater earthquakes, extraordinary floods, volcanic eruptions or the fall of meteorites or celestial bodies, among others.
However, the Consortium expressly excludes hail from its coverage because it does not consider it an extraordinary phenomenon.
However, it is necessary to check whether with this week’s hail there is the possibility of making a claim to this body. At least that’s what the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) says. This organization advises to review the coverage of your own insurance and remembers “the right to claim any type of compensation, both from the insurer and the Insurance Compensation Consortium”. The truth, however, is that for this body to take charge of it, it would be necessary to have an insurance policy and for the phenomenon to be declared extraordinary by the authorities.
The OCU also advises those affected to collect as much evidence as possible to demonstrate the origin and consequences of the damage. Evidence such as reports from meteorological agencies and observatories about the storm, newspaper clippings or television videos with information about the extent of the hail, photographs, or reports from agencies such as firefighters, emergency services, police , civil protection and, if necessary, collect witnesses of what happened.
Deployment to repair
A clear indication of the magnitude of last week’s hailstorm is the deployment of some businesses, such as those that repair car windows. The Ralarsa company sent a dozen workers to Bisbal who, in just two days, replaced the windshields of 650 vehicles in the town’s exhibition hall.
Another well-known firm, Carglass, has also moved technicians to Bisbal, doubled shifts and opened a 300 square meter warehouse next to its center in the town of Emporda. In addition, the company has set up a tent in a parking lot so that the cranes can take the damaged cars there, while at the same time it has modified the logistics in the State to be able to have at all times the glass needed to attend to the repairs.
Companies pay for 300 environmental claims
Companies, despite the safety systems, run the risk of damaging the environment, either by accident or due to negligence. A danger that, like almost everything in this world, can be insured. In fact, the Spanish insurance association, Unespa, has taken stock of this type of policy in the State.
During the last decade, insurers have had to pay compensation for 300 claims involving environmental damage. These are data from the Spanish Pool of Environmental Risks (PERM), an economic interest group established in 1994, of which 25 entities are part. The PERM develops the products to insure these risks, centralizes their management and administration and is also responsible for contracting reinsurance.
Half of the claims end up costing less than 1,000 euros, despite the fact that the average is around 30,000 euros. Even so, the risk cannot be underestimated. In the last 10 years there have been cases with much higher compensations. The record was in 2016, in the fire of a waste classification and storage warehouse. The compensation that had to be paid for environmental damage rose to just over 2 million euros.
