The increase in the frequency of episodes of heavy rains in the Valencian Community has led to insurance companies Act. Insurers have started to include non-coverage clauses due to meteorological episodes which were previously considered anomalous, but which have now become frequent. “Insurance companies carry losing a lot of money since 2015 and they had to react,” explains José Vicente Grau, board member of the Association of Professional Insurance Brokers of Valencia.
The most egregious clause that some insurance companies already include in their fine print refers to normalization of phenomena such as those experienced last weekend, which caused flooding and much damage due to the violence with which it rained. Namely: those atmospheric and meteorological phenomena that were previously considered unexpected or anomalous are now being considered normal for their frequency in certain areas and times of the year.
Now, therefore, the companies “demonstrate that these episodes are no longer something unexpected or accidental,” explains Grau. “What this new clause comes to say is that previously these heavy rains happened every ‘x’ years, not all of them, and now they happen several times a year. Then, being already ‘normal’ or ‘expected’, the insurance will no longer pay because they have ceased to be extraordinary or unexpected episodes,” he adds.
The companies insert clauses to pay only if more than 40 liters per square meter fall and the wind exceeds 90 kilometers per hour
So far the damages were covered if the rainfall exceeded 40 liters per square metreamount of water that could be distributed over several days. Now it is specified that it must be 40 liters in just one hour. Other information: in a few years the insurance They have gone from ignoring the threshold of the wind in the event of thunderstorms, position it above 90 kilometers per hour.
In the case of DANA, as in these days, who decides whether it is a ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’ episode? We’ve had the same episodes a year for 4 years. It is no longer an unexpected event, but something common in this moment and in this area. Like this the insurance will not pay you anymore yes will have to go to courtas happens in many cases”, they explain from the college of mediators.
