In what cases is insurance paid?
Regarding this issue, Ms. Tran Huong - Legal Expert at Long Phan PMT Law Firm said that most cases of vehicles damaged when flooded due to rain, storms and floods are covered by insurance in case of damage. Vehicle owners participate in insurance for motor vehicles.
However, in not all cases the car owner will be compensated for damages.
Accordingly, the conditions for compensation for damage when a vehicle is flooded due to storms and floods according to the Insurance Business Law 2022 are as follows:
- Car owners participate in physical insurance for their vehicles, especially cars, passenger cars, trucks, etc.
- When participating in an insurance contract, the car owner needs to clearly agree on the cases of compensation for losses, including compensation for damage when the car is flooded due to natural disasters;
- Not subject to insurance exclusions;
In addition, to receive compensation for damage, the car owner must also prove that the car's damage is due to flooding due to rain, storms and floods according to Clause 1 and Clause 4, Article 12 of Decree 03/2021/ND-CP.
To be resolved and compensated for damage, according to Article 15 of Decree 03/2021/ND-CP, insurance claim documents when the vehicle is flooded due to rain or storms include:
- Documents related to the vehicle and driver: vehicle registration, identity card, passport, driver's license, insurance certificate;
- Documents proving human damage: hospital discharge certificate, injury certificate, surgery certificate, death certificate (in case the victim dies);
- Documents proving property damage: invoices, documents for repair or replacement of damaged parts caused by flooding as directed/agreed by the insurance company, documents proving costs Reasonable amount that the vehicle owner has spent to minimize damage or according to the instructions of the insurance company.
Distinguish between flooded vehicles and hydro-damaged vehicles
A flooded vehicle is understood as a vehicle that is parked in a garage or on the street and is unavoidably flooded due to natural disasters (including storms, floods, lightning strikes, storms, earthquakes, tsunamis...) to failure.
In this case, most are covered by insurance.
Hydro-damaged vehicle: is understood to be a vehicle whose engine was damaged when the vehicle moved into a flooded area.
Water damage is also divided into two cases by insurance companies:
The car was running and driving into a flooded area. Water entered the engine, causing engine damage. In this case, the car owner can be compensated up to 100% of the repair cost if this clause is in the contract. However, many insurance companies only compensate about 70-80% for the reason that customers are responsible for considering whether to enter flooded areas or not;
The car was running and driving into a flooded area, then the car was turned off, but the driver deliberately restarted the car, causing water to flood in, causing serious damage to the engine. In this second case of water damage, the vast majority of insurance companies will refuse to compensate because this is completely the subjective fault of the driver.
