An insured contacted his insurer following water damage on a terrace located above his home in October 2015. He returned to his company after the work was carried out in… 2018. Too late?
For how long can you turn against the driver of a vehicle during a collision? How long do we have to react to water damage? In damage insurance, any action must be exercised within two years that follow the event that gives rise to it, explains the insurance mediator in his Annual Report published in early September. The organization relies on the case of an insured holder of a home insurance policy who contacted his insurer following water damage on a terrace located above his home in October 2015. In the crowd, the company asked its client to provide it with an amicable report of water damage, completed and signed by its lessor.
Then, radio silence until July 2018, the date on which the insured provided his insurance with proof that work had been carried out on the famous terrace. Problem, the response time was deemed too long so that compensation for work related to water damage in housing is supported. The insurer relied on Articles L.114-1 and L.114-2 of the Insurance Code and the customer’s claim was deemed time-barred. The insured contested this decision, stating in particular that the insurer told him to come back to him once the exterior work was finished, without being able to prove it.
A registered letter to record the deadline
Article L.114-1 of the Insurance Code indicates that all actions arising from an insurance contract are time-barred two years from the event giving rise thereto. Article L.114-2 provides that the prescription can be interrupted by sending a registered letter by the insured to the insurer with regard to the settlement of the indemnity. But nothing has been done.
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Asked about this case, the Insurance Mediator Arnaud Chneiweiss considered that the insurer was justified in opposing the limitation of his action to the insured. The insurer should therefore have sent a registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt to record the request for an additional period pending completion of the work.
An approach which had every chance of being understood by the insurer because it is taken into account that the carrying out of work via the trustees of buildings in the common areas takes longer to be implemented, in particular because of the time of votes at general meetings.
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