Insure your home against the risk of (forest) fires
Anyone who has been to Spain or visited the country recently can see that it is very dry. Brown plains, reservoirs where the water is much lower than in other years and dried up rivers are some of the visible evidence of this.
Last winter and spring it hardly rained in large parts of the country. Because of all this drought, the risk of forest fires is also this year extremely high. The official season for forest fires is from 1 July to 30 September. It is during this period that the conditions required for fires most frequently arise: high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds. The fact that the forest fire season is almost over does not mean that fires cannot start again. Firefighting services are active throughout the year.
The consequences of forest fires are often severe. Forests that burn down completely take decades, if not longer, to recover. A large fire has terrible consequences on biodiversity, desertification of the burnt areas increases and air and water pollution occurs.
¨Am I insured?¨
For people who own a house in wooded areas or on the Spanish 'campo', the fear of a forest fire, in which they could lose everything, is often very great. People wonder if their home insurance will cover possible damage caused by a forest fire.
There are often rumours that insurers do not pay out damages caused by a forest fire. Nothing could be further from the truth. Damage to a home caused by fire is covered, whether it is under building or contents insurance. Whether the cause is a forest fire or a fire caused by a short circuit, for example.
A forest fire is not a natural disaster
People often assume that a forest fire is a natural disaster, but that is not the case. Natural disasters are for example floods, earthquakes and tsunamis. In Spain, these are covered by a special emergency disaster fund. The so-called 'Consorcio de Seguros'. Everyone who has a damage insurance automatically contributes a part of their premium to this fund.
Building and contents
The building insurance (seguro del hogar) covers damage to your home caused by fire, lightning, storm, explosion, theft, burglary and water damage. It is wise to take the reinstatement value as a starting point. This is the amount that would be necessary to rebuild the house at this moment.
If you have questions or doubts about your building and/or contents insurance, you can always contact Hypotienda, for years one of the major players in the field of insurances in Spain. More information about the various insurances and what we as Hypotienda can do for you can be found on our website www.hypotienda.com or you can contact us by phone on (+34) 951 319 383 or by email to info@hypotienda.com.
