If I have purchased property insurance, can I report the loss of property caused by heavy rain?

After the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, insurance paid out 1.16 billion yuan; after heavy rains in Beijing in 2012, insurance paid out 1.13 billion yuan; in 2019 after the "Lekima" typhoon, insurance paid out 4.031 billion yuan. With the continuous improvement of insurance coverage, the scale of insurance compensation for floods in Henan may reach a record high.

The Henan Province Flood Prevention and Disaster Relief Press Conference disclosed that as of July 28, the Henan insurance industry had received 412,300 claims reports, with a preliminary estimated loss of 9.804 billion yuan. Among them, there were 226,400 car insurance reports involving people's property safety, with an estimated loss of 6.412 billion yuan; 171,200 home property insurance reports, with an estimated loss of 284 million yuan; and 9,452 agricultural insurance reports, with an estimated loss of 296 million yuan.

As of 12:00 on the 22nd, 1,073 cases were reported for corporate property insurance, with an estimated loss of 498 million yuan; 107 cases were reported for engineering insurance, with an estimated loss of 107 million yuan; 200 cases were reported for accident insurance, with an estimated loss of 16.3015 million yuan ; 265 other insurance cases were reported, with an estimated loss of 53.108 million yuan. In addition, Zhengzhou Metro's property insurance, construction insurance, and public liability insurance are insured for a total reported estimated loss of 144 million yuan (this data is included in the overall estimated loss amount).

1. What to do if there is property damage?

For problems such as urban waterlogging, flooding of vehicles and farmland, and house collapse caused by heavy rainfall, generally speaking, most property damage insurance can include natural disasters in the coverage.

Take property insurance that companies often purchase as an example. Generally, there are three commonly used types of insurance: basic property insurance, comprehensive property insurance and all property risks. Basic property insurance only covers fire, explosion, lightning strike, falling objects, and parking. Liabilities such as water, power, and gas outages, but comprehensive insurance and all risks include liabilities such as floods. In other words, after purchasing sufficient insurance, any losses caused by floods can be compensated under the insurance.

According to data released by Henan Province on July 21, due to the heavy rain, the crop damage area is 75,000 hectares, the disaster area is 25,200 hectares, and the crop failure area is 4,700 hectares. Generally speaking, for crop losses caused by extreme weather, if farmers participate in policy agricultural insurance, insurance companies will basically pay compensation. This insurance generally covers crop losses caused by heavy rain, flood, waterlogging, wind, hail, freeze, drought and other reasons.

In addition, according to media reports, after the floods in Henan, many districts and cities in Zhengzhou reminded local people that the government had purchased public security and property insurance for residents in the entire district (city). Among them, relevant notices from Zhongyuan District, Zhengzhou City show that this insurance covers indoor property losses caused by 13 natural disasters such as fires, explosions, and floods, with a maximum compensation of 5,000 yuan per household; safety accidents caused by the above 13 natural disasters, each person will be compensated with a maximum compensation of 5,000 yuan. Compensation is 50,000 yuan. The government is insured and residents benefit. This insurance once again makes everyone feel the warmth of "caring about people's livelihood".

2. How to compensate for vehicle wading?

After a heavy rain, what should you do if your vehicle is flooded or soaked in water? A reporter from the Huashang Daily consulted a number of insurance company professionals and learned that for ordinary fuel vehicles that are damaged by flooding, if you purchase car damage insurance, the time point of the car insurance reform (September 19, 2020) will be used as the limit, and the compensation will exist. difference.

On September 19, 2020, motor vehicle insurance carried out a comprehensive reform. The entire motor vehicle that previously needed to be purchased separately will be covered by theft, separate glass breakage, spontaneous combustion, engine water wading, and the deductible rate will not be included. Unable to find third-party special insurance and other insurance liabilities, they were all included in the car damage insurance. If the car damage insurance is purchased after the car insurance reform, the engine water insurance has been included, and there is no need to purchase it separately. The vehicle can be compensated whether it is damaged while parked or flooded while driving; policies before this , car owners need to pay attention to whether they have purchased water-related insurance. If they have only purchased car damage insurance, if the car is parked and has not been started, the insurance company will make claims for losses caused by flooding as agreed, while driving If the vehicle is flooded during the process, the insurance company will only pay for losses other than the engine. If you purchase flood insurance at the same time, the insurance company will pay for all losses including the engine.

Insurance industry insiders remind that it should be noted that no matter what the above situation is, if the car is started a second time after being turned off due to water, the insurance company will not compensate for the damage to the car. When ensuring their own safety, car owners should call the insurance company's claims hotline to report the incident as soon as possible and wait for rescue or towing.

3. How to resist natural disasters?

Judging from foreign experience, in addition to strengthening the "monitoring-study-judgment-forecasting-early warning" process for natural disasters, supporting measures for catastrophe insurance are also very important. In the past 20 years, the incidence of natural disasters caused by extreme climate has increased significantly not only in China but also around the world. Due to the huge destructive power of catastrophe risks and the difficulty of normal risk protection mechanisms to cope with it, establishing a corresponding catastrophe insurance mechanism has become a problem for many The country’s inevitable choice.

After the State Council promulgated the "Ten Articles of the New Country" in 2014, the catastrophe insurance system was tried and explored in some provinces and cities, and the actions of various governments in my country to promote catastrophe insurance have also been significantly accelerated: the first farmhouse in Dali, Yunnan Earthquake insurance, Shenzhen and Ningbo have launched catastrophe insurance. Guangdong, Zhejiang, Xiamen, Fujian and other typhoon-prone areas have launched catastrophe insurance with typhoon, rain and flood as the main liability. The mechanism is mainly funded by the government, insured by insurance companies or consortiums. The operation mode improves the ability of local residents and society to withstand catastrophic risks and losses. However, due to the different types of natural disasters in different parts of my country, the development of catastrophe insurance is highly regional, so the above-mentioned pilot insurance types did not become popular in the end.

In 2017, Typhoon Hato caused a loss of 3.6 billion, setting a record for the largest single loss among catastrophe losses in my country from 2013 to 2020, and once again triggered the public's call for catastrophe insurance. In the same year, the China Reinsurance Catastrophe Research Center was established, which is mainly responsible for building a catastrophe database, developing catastrophe models, developing catastrophe products, building an information sharing platform, carrying out catastrophe scientific research, and promoting the construction of a catastrophe insurance system.

Now, the "fireworks" are coming, and the huge economic losses have once again sounded the alarm in the country for the establishment of a catastrophe insurance mechanism. How to enrich the insurance protection system for major natural disasters, learn from mature foreign experience and establish a catastrophe insurance system that is in line with China's national conditions, and further enhance the ability and level of the insurance industry to participate in disaster prevention, reduction, and relief, have become important issues that my country's insurance industry must consider at the moment.

On July 23, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission issued another notice, proposing work requirements for the insurance industry to participate in the first national comprehensive natural disaster risk census, in order to further consolidate the operating foundation of the insurance industry and effectively serve the country’s natural disasters. Disaster prevention and control system and prevention and control capacity building. We also look forward to my country continuing to promote catastrophe insurance pilots and legislation to include more natural disasters in the coverage of insurance as soon as possible.