Have you recently experienced flooding and your car was also affected? This situation, very painful, occurs every year for many French people. We may tell ourselves that it only happens to others, but when we are “victims”, we don’t immediately know how to react.
What to do if your car is flooded?
The first thing to do is to review your insurance policy to see if it covers flooding. You can also contact your insurer directly. You will know if your car can be compensated according to the circumstances of the event.
Flooded car: how to get reimbursed by your insurance?
To be compensated, you must have subscribed to at least one of the two guarantees that cover the risk offlooding of cars: the natural disaster guarantee or the climatic event guarantee (storm, flood, etc.). All compensation procedures related to these two guarantees are then strictly regulated by law; it is also impossible to resell your car until the compensation is made
Your vehicle is covered by natural disasters:
Article L125-1 of the insurance code deals with the natural disaster guarantee. The latter covers “uninsurable direct material damage caused by the abnormal intensity of a natural agent”. This is the case with floods.
Be careful, however, because in order to benefit from this guarantee, the flooding must be qualified as a natural disaster by interministerial order. As soon as it is published in the JO, you have 10 days to inform your insurer and start the procedure.
The principle of natural disaster is now automatically included in the insurance policies that cover you against fire, theft and other damages.
Your car is also covered by the weather event warranty:
If your car is covered by weather coverage, flood damage will be compensated even if a natural disaster has not been declared.
But there are exceptions. In fact, if you tried to surf with your car to make it look like Top Gear and it didn’t hold up, you can’t be compensated.
The expertise of a car after a flood is mandatory
In any case, you will have to prove during a compulsory expertise of your car, that the flood was unforeseeable and that you did not show negligence. You will not be compensated if you have parked your car on the riverbank during a red flood warning. And this will also be the case if you have tried to cross a road already flooded, which is not advised in the highway code…
Has your car ever suffered flood damage? Were you compensated? Bring your testimony!
If your car has been flooded due to a natural disaster, you may be eligible for compensation from your insurance company. However, it is important to review your policy and make sure you have the necessary coverage. You will also need to prove that the flood was unforeseeable and that you did not show negligence.