After the severe storm between Bruchsal and Bretten in mid-August, a lot of clean-up work has been done. But what does the insurance company pay? Claims adjusters are working non-stop.
The clean-up work took days after the severe storm with heavy rain and flooding between Bruchsal and Bretten in mid-August. Cellars were flooded, streets covered with a thick layer of mud. Now that the worst has been cleared away, many of those affected are asking themselves: What will the insurance company pay? And will it even cover the damage? Insurance claims adjusters are constantly on duty, like Linus Konrad from Badische Versicherungen.
Saalbach floods Stirumschule and causes huge damage
There are garbage bags, destroyed bookshelves, chairs and tables in the Stirum School in Bruchsal. The storm caused the Saalbach, which flows past a few meters away, to overflow its banks. The masses of water destroyed more than 1,000 square meters of the basement of the elementary school. The water was 70 centimeters high.
A cleared out classroom in the Stirumschule in Bruchsal
Workers are busy carrying everything outside. The floor is being cleaned as best as possible. This is the biggest damage case he has had to deal with since the storm, says Linus Konrad. He is a claims adjuster for the Badische Versicherungen insurance company. It could cost almost a million euros to repair the damage in this school.
The water has flowed under the screed, which means that all the floors have to be removed too!
Oliver Krempel, Bruchsal City Planning Office
All furnishings in the basement of the Stirum School were destroyed
Many affected people in Bruchsal or Gondelsheim are “properly” insured
The damage in public buildings like this school is one thing, says the man from the insurance company. His appointments with those affected in private buildings are particularly emotional. The claims adjuster reports flooded and largely destroyed heating systems, as well as a residential building that was in danger of collapsing after the storm and was uninhabitable.
These emotions among the owners, among the family, are quite intense at this moment!
Linus Konrad, claims adjuster at Badische Versicherungen
He has been dealing with around 100 cases since the storm, and the number is rising. Two thirds of the damage reports come from private building owners, one third from municipalities. Most of those affected are “properly” insured, he says. Namely against damage to buildings and household goods caused by natural hazards. The insurance company then helps by commissioning tradesmen, sometimes even specialist companies, to do the work, as was the case at the Stirum School in Bruchsal.
Full garbage containers in front of the Stirumschule in Bruchsal
Badische Versicherung expects more major events like these
Almost two weeks after the flood, cooperation with the insurance companies is going well, says Oliver Krempel from Bruchsal’s municipal planning office. He has not yet heard any complaints from private homeowners, even though many insurance companies are certainly currently overloaded.
After the roughest clean-up work in Bruchsal-Heidelsheim, Helmsheim and Gondelsheim was completed after a few days, the actual removal and settlement of the damage will take at least months.
It is not yet possible to estimate the extent of the damage, says Sabrina Lauwasser from Badische Versicherungen in Karlsruhe. What is certain is that this storm was one of the five worst in the past 100 years for insurance in the municipal sector, i.e. for public buildings. It is expected that there will be more and more local events like this in the future.
More about the flood
