After four days of chaos in several French cities following the death of 17-year-old Nahel, killed by police fire after refusing to comply, Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, asked insurers to extend declaration deadlines, reduce deductibles and quickly compensate professionals who are victims of revolts.
“Compensation must arrive as soon as possible”, “within time which must amount to days and not weeks” for traders and contractors affected by damage and looting, he said, Saturday, July 1, after having received representatives of traders, hoteliers-restaurants, insurers and bankers in Bercy.
Bruno Le Maire also asked the banks for “the greatest understanding in terms of processing deadlines” from the professionals concerned.
He invited professionals “affected by acts of vandalism” to declare “as soon as possible” the claims to their insurance. “A call is enough, or an email, or a text!” he argued. “We have planned to extend, if necessary, the reporting deadlines.”
“Declaration deadlines must be extended, but insurers must also adapt the recognition of claims”, remarked Philippe Coy, president of the Confederation of tobacconists. “I don’t think there will be enough experts in the short term, each member should be able to photograph the damage in order to be able to prepare an expert report without waiting, because it will be urgent to prepare for repairs”.
The professional organization France Assureurs assured that its members were “all mobilized” to respond to the victims of the revolts, without however responding precisely at this stage to the request of the Minister of the Economy. “Insurers are mobilized and will continue to respond […] to support their policyholders,” said the federation, which has 252 members representing more than 99% of the market according to its site.
“Accelerating compensation is particularly crucial to allow professionals whose work tool has been degraded or even destroyed to quickly restart their activity,” she noted.
The professional organization asks the victims to contact “as soon as possible” their insurers “by any means of communication”. A crisis unit “will organize frequent situation updates between insurers to monitor the evolution of the situation, identify the needs on the ground and provide the appropriate responses”, specified France Assureurs.
For his part, the president of the French Banking Federation Philippe Brassac assured that the banks were “present, fully mobilized to respond in a personalized way to the needs of their customers affected by the recent riots”. “All meeting attendees are committed to simplicity and speed,” he added in a statement.
A deferral of payment of social and tax charges for companies in difficulty will also be possible. Traders are also calling for a delay in the repayment of state-guaranteed loans (PGE) granted during the health crisis.
After four nights of unrest, there are about ten shopping centers and more than 200 large retailers attacked and looted, including 15 burned down, 250 tobacco shops, but also 250 bank branches, stores of all sizes, establishments of fast food… “It’s hyper critical and there is really very significant damage,” said Alain Di Crescenzo, president of CCI France (chambers of commerce and industry).
“We are at several thousand shops”, including 400 in Marseille alone on Friday, with a predilection for sporting goods, food and optics. A balance sheet all the heavier according to him as many security guards have asserted their right of withdrawal.
Crisis cells are reactivated in each department and “we want to provide quick and strong responses”, said Bruno Le Maire, noting that “90% to 95% of traders are covered by claims and damage insurance” and 53% by business interruption insurance.
Each CCI has also opened a crisis unit, including psychological, according to Alain Di Crescenzo, who is also asking for aid to compensate for deductibles, operating losses if they are not insured, the payment of security guards and partial unemployment. He also wants, more prosaically, priority in the police stations for traders so that they can easily declare their claims.
In addition, the possibility of extending the sales for one week for affected businesses is being studied. “The sales started very well, tourism is doing very well. We have so many chances, so many assets in this country, we must preserve them, ”pleaded Olivia Grégoire, Minister Delegate in charge of SMEs and trade in particular.
