Insurers always check this detail before giving compensation and fixing the amount.
Fire, water damage, burglary, flooding … After a disaster, touching compensation is generally under the obstacle course. Between the clauses of checking contracts, the supporting documents to be provided and the sometimes endless processing times, the insured are quickly exceeded. Especially since the insurance companies examine every detail. A missing document, an imprecise declaration or a contested estimate can complicate everything. Result: refusal of care, procedures that are exterior and, for some, compensation well below their expectations. So what to do to obtain fair compensation in the event of a claim?
The specialized magazine 60 million consumers Has looked into the subject in its latest February issue (n ° 610), with the help of the National Union of Family Associations (UNAF) and the Consulting Consulting Figures & Figures. Their investigation highlights certain “disturbing” practices of insurance. One of them consists in hunting for a detail on the declarations of the insured: it is the application of the proportional rule. If this term does not tell you anything, it’s normal, insurers have no interest in you knowing it.
Concretely, this insurance rule means that if an insured person has underestimated the value of his property or provided inaccurate information without knowing it when subscribing to his contract, he will receive compensation below his expectations. This is often the case for the number and size of the parts declared in a accommodation. Few people know it, but beyond a certain surface, a room counts for two rooms. “For example, a 60 m² living room set can count for two main rooms”can we read on the Crédit Agricole site in particular.
In principle, a main part must have a surface greater than 9 m² and less than 30, or even 40 m². This information is mentioned in contracts. If there is an error or an oversight, the insured are penalized. “Many claims processed by proportional rules lead to reducing the amount of compensation by 10 to 15 %”, underlined Benoît Monterrat, president of the Federation of Insured Experts (FEDEXA) to 60 million consumers.
To avoid this kind of problem, it is better to check your insurance contract and declared information. If in doubt, each insurer must, according to the insurance code (article L521-4), propose “A contract that is consistent with requirements and needs” of the insured. So do not hesitate to specify the characteristics of the accommodation, with photos of the interior and the outside for a fairer assessment. And above all, it is always possible to correct an error by updating your contract!
