More than 6,000 receive compensation after July flooding
More than 6,000 people affected by torrential flooding which struck Luxembourg in July have received compensation to date, the country’s association of insurers said on Thursday.
The total cost of the damage has risen to an estimated €125 million – up from €120 million at the end of July - making it the most expensive event in the history of the insurance industry in Luxembourg, the ACA (l'Association des Compagnies d’Assurances et de Réassurances) said in a statement.
There have been 6,500 reports of damage to homes and businesses lodged with insurers across the Grand Duchy, and a further 1,300 cases of flooded vehicles, the ACA said. A total of 6,300 people have received compensation payments to date.
"To date, 80% of the vehicle dossiers have already been closed, which means that the compensation due has been paid out in full to the car owner," said the ACA. Part or full compensation payments have been made in 85% of cases involving damage to property.
Delays in waiting for expert assessments and stalled repair work due to the shortage of certain raw materials are among the main reasons preventing the remaining compensation cases from being fully resolved, the insurers’ association added.
The ACA has urged people to examine and review their policies due to “the increased frequency of weather events over the past three years in Luxembourg, which concretely demonstrates climate change”.
A government report into the flooding in July concluded that Luxembourg's alert system for warning the public of extreme weather needs to be improved, in the first official admission of shortcomings after anger from residents that they had not been given enough warning in advance.
In the aftermath of the downpours, residents had complained that they did not receive adequate warnings of the incoming floods, with some suggesting the government should have sent out so-called push notifications to people's mobile devices.
Opposition lawmakers have called for an independent probe into events leading up to the floods.
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