Romanians who have insured houses in 16 counties have already declared 139 claims for damages after the earthquakes in Gorja on February 13 and 14, and the reserve for damages established for discovered losses exceeds 700,000 lei, PAID representatives told HotNews.ro on Friday . , a company that pays compensation for damage to houses that are necessarily insured against earthquakes, floods and landslides.

The most damaged files are in Gorj, Hunedoara and Mehedinci

As of 17/02/2023, 139 damage files have been opened following the earthquakes in Gorja, which occurred on 13 and 14 February, announced on Facebook PAID (Pool de Asigurare Optoriva Desastrelor), a private insurance company that issues compulsory PAD home insurance policies and pays compensation in case of disasters.

The largest number of damage files were opened in Gorzh (76), Hunedoara (16), Mehedyntsi (9), Karash-Severyn (8) counties.

Kosmin Tudor, PAID: The amount of damages exceeds 700,000 lei

At HotNews.ro’s request, PAID officials have sent the first official estimates of the damages that can be paid for these damages.

• “At the stage of opening claims, when the notifications have just been made (ie the insured has declared damage to the houses), we can estimate absolutely no value.
• During opening, you can make a rough approximation.
• This approximation, even if it does not have a degree of accuracy confirmed by documents, work estimates, is created as a “loss reserve” and registered as such.
• For files related to the February 13/14 earthquakes that already have findings, the current loss reserve exceeds 700,000 lei.”, Cosmin Tudor, Director of Development of PAID, told HotNews.ro.

It should be noted that insurance company loss inspectors have not completed damage assessments in all 139 loss files reported so far.

• importantly! These estimates only cover the amounts that owners can claim from PAID on compulsory policies (PAD) – ie a maximum of €10,000 or €20,000 depending on the €10 annual premium paid (for adobe, thatched houses, etc.) or 20 euros (case made of more stable materials).
• If someone has losses that exceed this amount, the difference must be paid by another insurance company, if the owner has taken out optional home insurance in addition to the mandatory one.
• example, Omniasig and Allianz-Țiriac Asigurări recently announced that they have more than 150 open claims after the earthquakes in Gorzh.

Affected parties no longer need to individually ask the INFP for evidence of an earthquake

When asked by HotNews.ro what documents the affected party must now provide and what is the procedure for receiving compensation, Cosmin Tudor stated that in this case “he no longer needs to individually demand proof of the existence of an earthquake from the INFP, because PAID already has the reports necessary for file processing.

In addition, affected parties must follow the instructions of the adjusters regarding the documentation.

A description of the necessary steps can be found on the PAID website, and there are quite a few documents:

• 1. Documents issued by competent authorities testifying to the causes and circumstances of the creation or occurrence of a natural disaster – the District Inspectorate for Emergency Situations (ISU), Voluntary Service for Emergency Situations (SVSU) / Local Committee for Emergency Situations (CLSU) from the City Hall, Prefecture or other bodies authorized by law (National Meteorological Administration, National Research Institute of Earth Physics).
• 2. Document certifying the identity of the insured, a copy.
• 3. Documents for the property of the insured home, a copy.

In addition, in each specific case, the following documents will be presented to confirm the legal capacity of the insured as the owner of the property that is the subject of the claim:

• Contract of sale;
• Deed of Gift;
• Certificate of heirs, mandatory if the owner or the insured has died.
• Construction permit together with the final acceptance report after completion of works;
• The protocol of issuing real estate at the auction together with the ownership protocol (in the case of purchasing real estate at public auctions)
• The right of ownership and record of ownership in case of restitution of immovable property on the basis of Law No. 10/2001 (reissued with subsequent amendments) on the legal regime of certain immovable property illegally seized between March 6, 1945 and December 22, 1989
• A certificate of financial role (not a fiscal attestation) issued by administrative authorities, which indicates that the insured property is registered in the tax records in the name of the insured together with a certificate from the register of agricultural enterprises issued by the municipality where the insured property is located.

CAREFULLY!

• Claims examiners may request additional documents after this is discovered or provide the policyholder with information on the steps to complete the claim file.
• The start of repair work on the house can be carried out only after the damage has been ascertained by the representative of the insurance company.

Pay attention to what is written in the contracts! Not everyone with insured homes receives compensation when disaster strikes

In a series of recent articles, HotNews.ro notes that not all Romanians who have insured their homes receive their money when disaster strikes. People need to be very careful about so-called exclusions, clauses in contracts that say when compensation is denied, clauses that are usually bigger than situations where you get your money.

Last year, more than 240 claims were made against insured and earthquake-damaged homes, of which payments were made in only 119 cases. in 27 cases, people were denied compensationincluding on the grounds that the plaster did not fall due to the earthquake, according to official data sent to HotNews.ro.

I explained in a separate article what exclusions or “traps” may appear in mandatory home insurance and the reasons why some are denied compensation.

The data is presented exclusively by HotNews.ro shows that in 2021, Romanians submitted 26 complaints to the Financial Supervisory Authority (ASF), of which 11 related to non-payment of compensation, while last year there were 13 complaints, of which 5 related to non-payment of compensation.

Read more:

• ‘Your plaster fell off, but not from the earthquake’: payouts against claims denied for homes damaged by last year’s earthquakes
• “Traps” in mandatory home insurance: why some people are denied compensation
• The state that does not do what the state says: even city halls do not insure their houses against earthquakes, floods and landslides
• Romanians would be even less likely to insure their homes if they did not have loans. Some consider it a disguised tax – What does the ASF correspond to?