2023-07-03 16:49:00
Broken glass, burned premises, looted merchandise … Traders have been the target of riots that have been raging in France for six days following the death of young Nahel, 17, killed by a police officer. Despite the desolation at the amount of damage observed, the time has now come for repairs. The owners of damaged businesses must, in fact, declare the damage in order to hope to obtain compensation from their insurer. And if the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, was confident, calling in particular on insurers to reduce the amount of deductibles, nothing might be less simple.
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Report damage as soon as possible
This is the priority for traders: declaring the damage linked to the riots. On Saturday, Bruno Le Maire had identified, in four nights of trouble, a dozen shopping centers and more than 200 retail chains attacked and looted – including 15 burned down -, as well as 250 tobacconists, also 250 bank branches, stores of all sizes and fast food outlets. This Monday, however, he said he did not have an updated report.
For his part, Alain Di Crescenzo, president of CCI France (the chambers of commerce and industry) estimated on Sunday that the“we are at several thousand shops”. He also called for giving priority in the police stations to traders so that they can easily declare their claims. Bruno Le Maire also encouraged the victims to declare them quickly: “A call is enough, or an email, or an SMS! »he assured, specifying that “we have planned to extend if necessary to extend the reporting deadlines”. Currently, policyholders must file a complaint with the police authorities and declare their damage to their insurer within five days of becoming aware of the loss. In addition, several prefectures have strengthened their system to facilitate the filing of complaints, and therefore compensation.
Riots: bosses and traders call on the public authorities for help
France Assureur has affirmed that the members of the organization are “all mobilized” to respond to the victims of the riots, affirming that“accelerating compensation is particularly crucial to enable professionals whose work tool has been degraded or even destroyed to quickly restart their activity”
For its part, the BPCE banking group, also an insurer, announced on Monday that it would set up a “ extension of the time limit for reporting claims, brought to thirty calendar days for its insured customers. They will also benefit from a “simplification of the declaration” thanks to a “extension of accepted evidence (testimonials, photos and other supporting documents in the absence of an invoice)”the group said in a press release.
Enough to respond to the concerns of professionals like Philippe Coy, president of the Confederation of tobacconists, who warned on Sunday: “I don’t think there will be enough experts in the short term, each member should be able to photograph the damage in order to be able to repair without waiting for an expert report”.
What damages compensated?
It remains to be seen what damage is covered by the compensation. According to the Insurance Code, insurers are theoretically not required to cover losses and damages caused by riots or popular uprisings. Material damage suffered by a business or building is covered by the “riots and popular uprisings” guarantee.specifies, in fact, the professional organization, France Assureurs, on its site, affirming however that “virtually all insurance contracts covering businesses and buildings provide this guarantee”. “The insured will then be compensated according to the levels of cover that he has taken out (fire, theft, glass breakage) and on the other damage suffered by the insured property”is added.
With regard to the “operating loss”, which covers the loss of gross margin linked to the closure of a trade, its subscription is optional. “This guarantee covers the loss of gross margin resulting from a total or partial closure of the establishment due to material damage covered by the guarantee “riots and popular movements””says France Assureurs.
What deductible applied?
“We have asked insurers to be as simple as possible in handling procedures” and of “reduce deductibles as much as possible”, assured Bruno Le Maire, Saturday, in front of journalists following having received representatives of traders, hoteliers-restaurateurs, insurers and bankers in Bercy. And to affirm that the federation of insurers has “made formal commitments to study the possibility of reducing the deductibles”.
However, France Assureurs did not comment on this subject in its statement on Saturday. A spokesperson also confirmed to AFP that this statement should be adhered to. ” for the moment “.
The banking-insurance group BPCE has already announced, in its press release on Monday, that there would be no “no deductible applied in the event of damage to property” for the “professional customers”.
State support?
If traders are going to turn to their insurers, for the main employers’ organizations, the State will also have to put its hand in the wallet to support these professionals already strongly affected by the health crisis. They thus called on the government on Monday to put in place support measures for traders and entrepreneurs affected by the last six nights of violence.
For his part, the Minister of the Economy has already announced a postponement of payment of social and tax charges for companies in difficulty will also be possible. But for the Confederation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (CPME), this deferral of charges may not be “ sufficient “. So she asks: immediate and massive support measures “For merchants and tobacconists, in particular, who do not have access to partial unemployment. ” For those who have lost everything, it is essential to provide them with a means of subsistence “, insists the CPME which pleads for the establishment” an emergency fund “As well as a delay in the repayment of loans guaranteed by the State (PGE) granted during the health crisis.
The union of local businesses (U2P) warns of the fact that ” these companies will not be able to resume their activity for several weeks, and many others, particularly of a commercial nature, are already suffering significant declines in activity due to the riots “. It therefore asks the government to put in place suitable devices “- such as partial activity and the deferral of charges -, to insurance companies to compensate quickly and proportionately but also to banks to grant the companies concerned ” facilities ” reimbursement.
Bruno Le Maire also addressed the banks asking them “the greatest understanding in terms of processing deadlines” professionals concerned. To which the President of the French Banking Federation, Philippe Brassac, replied that they were “present, fully mobilized to respond in a personalized way to the needs of their customers affected by the recent riots”.
(With AFP)
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