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Construction insurance: understanding the CRAC convention

To facilitate the management of any claims in the field of construction, the introduction of a CRAC agreement has facilitated the compensation arrangements. This is a conventional agreement signed by almost all insurers operating in the French construction insurance market.

Where is she from ?

The Construction Insurance Settlement Agreement (CRAC) was put in place as part of the application of the Spinetta law. This law created a double-trigger system such as pre-financing of the repair work by the property damage insurer and the recourse of the latter against the ten-year liability insurers of the manufacturer. This agreement has improved the investigation of claims and made the payment of victims more effective.

In principle the CRAC is applicable against any insurance company. Nevertheless this agreement is not binding which makes each insurer free to join or not. Of course, this does not prevent the insurer from being fully liable when damage occurs and renders the building unsuitable for its intended purpose.

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When does this agreement apply?

The convention CRAC applies when an optional additional benefit is contained not only in the work-damage contract but also in the contracts of ten-year liability. The goal is to reduce the cost of damage management. This agreement covers any real estate disorder provided for in articles 1792 to 1792-2 of the Civil Code which refer to the full liability of any builder of the work towards the owner or the purchaser of the work.

Does it facilitate the compensation procedure?

The implementation of this agreement has facilitated the use of the property damage insurer who compensates the building owner and wants to recover this sum from the other insurers as a ten-year guarantee of those involved in the construction. However, very often, it can be difficult to obtain the agreement of each actor to obtain sufficient compensation. In concrete terms, the contracting authority’s insurer will investigate the case on behalf of all the insurers involved in the case. A single expert is therefore mandated to handle the claim. Liability rates are allocated to builders according to a scale predefined by this agreement.

Moreover, it comes reduce the delays for any litigation by providing for a period of 3 months to resolve the disaster. Thus, the fact of appointing a single expert for the procedure makes it possible to reduce the costs of fees which will be distributed between each of the actors in the procedure.

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Above all, it makes it easier to allocate responsibilities between the various builders who may have intervened in the context of the project. Subrogation recourse exercised by the contracting authority’s insurer with ten-year civil liability insurers becomes easier to exercise. Especially since the delay for managing the damage being limited and that any legal proceedings are avoidedthe total cost will be greatly reduced.

L’expert appointed to manage the claim intervenes in the implementation of guarantees and determines the amount of compensation. The latter can be assisted by experts specialized in the field of construction depending on the nature and extent of the damage. It should be noted that this expert is chosen from a list drawn up by the insurers who have signed the CRAC.

The report drawn up by the mandated expert estimate the cost of the disaster as well as the responsibilities of the various actors in the compensation proceduren. However, the insurer signatory to this agreement will not be able to contest this expertise. But in the event of a dispute between the insurers as to the distribution of responsibilities, a conciliation commission will be convened to settle the dispute.

Appendix I of article A.243-1 of the Insurance Code determines the conditions of compensation for the structural damage insurer with regard to the victim of the claim. He will have a 3-month period to proceed with the reimbursement, taking into account the liability scale defined in the CRAC agreement.

This agreement constitutes a method of amicable settlement of claims between insurers outside of any search for liability and unenforceable against the insured.

Finally, it seems important to check that the insurers of the project owner and the builders are members of the CRAC in order to settle the claim as quickly and as quickly as possible.

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