Drama at the Danube: they knew that his house was flooded, but he did not receive help

The Index presented the living on the Római-coast The case of Gergőwhose house will surely be flooded, and who was told that the section of the coast where his house is located, along with that of several other owners, is an unprotected area, but he can still get a few sandbags. And if you have to escape, even a ladder. In the last few days, they packed in desperation, built a private defense and waited for the inevitable.

Approximately 2,000 people live in the area with a permanent registered address, but by signing up for a resort, they have given up many services that are available to other residents of the capital. Primarily, that they can benefit from flood protection under the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Municipality.

For the Gergős, the out-of-pocket cost of the defense is already close to HUF 1 million. The newspaper wrote that “although the building has insurance, presumably the small print of the contract includes the flood occurring in the wave field among the exceptional, i.e. non-insurable damage events”.

We asked the Association of Hungarian Insurers (Mabisz), which brings together insurance companies, about what should be done by those who built a house in a flood zone.

In connection with the specific article, Mabisz drew attention to the fact that there are no fine print in the contracts, and that it is clearly stated, not presumptively, that

According to Mabisz’s experience, in most cases this is brought to the customer’s attention already at the time of signing the contract.

Our paper also contacted Gergő to provide an updated description of the situation, whose house is located at the beginning of Nánási út, at the bottom of a long plot of land leading to the Danube bank, approximately 20 meters from the river, in an unsalvageable flood zone from the point of view of flood protection. The house is a holiday property with an accommodation service license, so they operate with 13 apartments in 3 buildings.

He said that the water had already broken into all three buildings, and the water was standing in the yard.

Earlier, after the Index article, a large number of civilians came forward to help Gergő defend himself, so there was already a chance that the properties located inland would be saved, but in the end they were defeated in the fight. Although he expected help from the state, it did not come, only the previously mentioned couple of sandbags were sent, which was not enough for anything. Gergő also blames his neighbor, whose plot is empty and who did not take his part in the defense.

Meanwhile, Szentendre, located not far from the Római coast, also fell. In its deeper areas, in some places only the top of the fences are sticking out of the water, and even worse can be expected, as the topping is expected on Saturday. Időkép also published a video of the situation (you can zoom in on the video to see the full picture).

Let’s pay attention to this when concluding the contract

Compensation for flood damage is included in the products of all insurance companies, but of course special rules apply to this specific type of damage, and in addition, many unique damage problems can arise, which are only revealed during damage reports.

Typically, from the point of view of flood damage, the position of the insurance profession and the legislator is also unchanged:

The insurance company reimburses the damages incurred on the protected side, i.e. on the side protected by a dam or a high bank, but the reimbursement of the total amount of damage is facilitated if the insured has taken all measures that can be legitimately expected of him for the purpose of damage mitigation and damage prevention.

“In the case of residential properties built within wave areas and in open flood areas, no insurance company can or cannot compensate for the damage caused. The profession, having learned from previous floods, acts according to uniform professional rules and helps the victims,” ​​Mabisz told Economx.

In the case of motor vehicles, you can rely on Casco insurance for flood damage.

You have to look at the terms and conditions

Given the current heroic struggle across the Danube, Mabisz emphasizes the importance of the fact that the vast majority of properties in Hungary are currently insured, i.e. they have some form of insurance.

“On the domestic home insurance market, 14 insurers currently offer approximately thirty to forty types of home insurance products, which offer customers a real choice both in terms of price and coverage,” the association told our newspaper.

For example, it is a contractual condition that the insurance company does not provide coverage for flood damage in the case of properties built in wave zones. You should definitely be aware of what our contract contains.

It is not possible to speed up the claims procedure

We also asked the association how people who suffered flood damage can speed up the settlement of claims. They said that in the case of flood damage, it is important to know that due to the nature of the procedure, insurers can only start the damage assessment and then the damage settlement after the damage report, and consequently

for insurers, the work brigade begins after the price wave recedes.

Then you can assess the damage caused. “According to the feedback received by Mabisz, the claims administrators and claim assessors of the insurance companies are fully prepared for this,” the association claims.

All precautionary steps should be taken

Mabisz warns that every step that common sense and individual responsible behavior dictates to a property owner must be taken. The point is to reduce the damage.

“We cannot offer anything special, every owner knows better than us what to do in connection with such an impending flood,” said the association. They added that Mabisz and all member insurance companies belonging to the association provide all possible assistance to customers and interested parties through their customer services.

We can lose serious money if we don’t update the contract

It is a matter of fact that the owners often do not report to the insurers the increase in value, the changes after the renovations and conversions, so

after a damage event, the insurers can only reimburse the damages incurred proportionally, in accordance with the valid contract,

and the contract and insurance conditions may change depending on these changes. “We constantly draw the attention of our customers and all Hungarian citizens to this. We also always emphasize – our member insurers do the same – that

when amending the conditions of existing contracts, as well as when concluding new contracts, companies usually impose a waiting period of 15-30 days, during which time the damages that occur are not yet covered”.

It is also a common mistake that the customer forgets to pay the current installment of the insurance. The fee paid after termination due to non-payment of the fee does not reinstate the contract, in which case we only have the option of taking out new insurance, in which case the waiting period must also be taken into account.

Our country was last hit by a serious Danube flood in 2013, but thanks to effective protection, the damage was reduced, so it did not even come close to the Tisza flood in 2010. At that time, in connection with the storms and floods, the entire insurance sector paid out nearly HUF 30 billion to its insured customers.

On Thursday, we organized a gallery of what the flood has done in Budapest so far. You can see our pictures by clicking here.