FRENCH INSURERS TO PAY €650 MILLION IN RIOTING-RELATED CLAIMS

Thu 13 July 2023:

France is experiencing increasing economic costs as a result of the turmoil that was caused by the tragic police shooting of a teenager. The French Insurance Federation estimates that more than 11,000 claims were filed ten days after the beginning of the unprecedented riots in late June, totaling €650 million ($721 million).

According to France Assureurs’ analysis, which was this week published by AFP, claims on professional property accounted for 55% of the overall expense.

The federation underlined that the majority of the initial claims—which were made five days after the beginning of violence—were for vehicle damage.

France’s ministry of economy, Bruno Le Maire detailed businesses targeted to the Parisien newspaper, including 436 tobacco shops, 370 banks, and some 200 food shops and grocery stores.

Many government-owned buildings, including town halls, police stations and schools were vandalized and busses and trams were burned.

IIe-de-France Mobilités, which manages Paris area transit, estimated 20 million euros of damage to public transit, with 39 buses burned.

The President of France Assureurs, Florence Lustman, specified that 90% of the cost of the “exceptional violence relates to the 3,900 properties of professionals and local authorities affected.”

Le #coût des dommages déclarés à la suite des violences urbaines de fin juin est déjà plus de 3 fois supérieur à celui des sinistres occasionnés par les 4 semaines d’#émeutes de 2005.
➡ Le coût total de ces sinistres s’élève à 650 millions d’euros.https://t.co/WMwe0MxyQ9

— France Assureurs (@FranceAssureurs) July 11, 2023

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire urged insurers to extend the deadline for claims.

Since June 27, and for almost a week, France has been gripped by violent protests, after police in the Paris suburb of Nanterre fatally shot a French-Algerian boy named Nahel Merzouk. The 17-year-old allegedly tried to drive away after being stopped by the police. The officer who fatally shot Nahel was soon placed in custody and charged with homicide.