The obligation for companies to take out insurance policies for damages arising from catastrophic events will come into force on 1 January 2025 (unless extended).
The insurance obligation, introduced by the 2024 Finance Law (art. 1, paragraphs 101 and following of Law 30 December 2023, no. 213), will affect all companies with registered offices or permanent establishments in Italy, in relation to damages caused by natural disasters and catastrophic events to land, buildings, plants, machinery and industrial and commercial equipment, recorded in the balance sheet.
The draft decree is ready
The Ministry of Economy and Finance, in agreement with the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, has prepared the draft inter-ministerial decree that defines the companies subject to the insurance obligation, the object of the insurance coverage and the natural disasters and catastrophic events to be insured (floods, inundations, inundations, earthquakes and landslides).
The contents of the draft inter-ministerial decree, to be issued soon, were illustrated during a technical meeting held yesterday, September 23, at Palazzo Piacentini with representatives of the associations representing the production categories.
The inter-ministerial decree will implement what is already foreseen in the “Reconstruction” bill, now under consideration by Parliament, which introduces the obligation for insurance companies to pay an advance of 30% of the damage for claims related to catastrophic events: a provision aimed at ensuring greater certainty in the settlement of damages to insured companies, allowing them to immediately access resources that are essential for a rapid resumption of activities.
Risk-adjusted premiums
Premiums will be proportional to the risk, taking into account the characteristics of the territory and the vulnerability of the insured assets. Insurance companies, within the limits of their risk tolerance and in line with the global solvency requirement, may not refuse to stipulate policies with companies. SACE SpA may reinsure the risk assumed by insurance companies by signing specific agreements, at market conditions.
“This decree marks an important step towards securing our production system,” said the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso. “In a context characterized by increasingly frequent catastrophic events, the introduction of mandatory insurance will allow our companies to better protect both production and employment.”
CNA, Confartigianato and Casartigiani: postpone the entry into force of the obligation
Speaking jointly at the Catastrophic Risk Insurance Table convened by Mimit yesterday afternoon, the three craft organizations (CNA, Confartigianato and Casartigiani) asked for an extension of the entry into force of the obligation. “The extension is necessary to define the guidelines contained in the Budget Law for 2024 and fill the uncertainties of the text as well as to put companies in a position to subscribe in full awareness to effective policies at costs that effectively take into account the principle of mutuality of risk”, highlighted Claudio Giovine, director of the Economic and Social division of CNA, also on behalf of Confartigianato and Casartigiani.
“To this end,” he noted, “policy conditions must be established that insurance companies must adhere to in determining coverage and setting premiums, and a portal similar to the one for energy must be created, on which companies can compare offers and check prices in a transparent manner.”
“Another gap to be filled – Giovine noted – is represented by the type of catastrophic events. We are talking about floods, inundations, landslides and earthquakes. But today phenomena such as hailstorms, gusts of wind, tornadoes, storm surges are increasingly frequent and cannot be left out in a mandatory insurance coverage area”.
“It is also important to exempt premiums from the 22.25% tax,” concluded the director of the Economic and Social division of the CNA.
