Home insurance: insurers maintain their presence everywhere despite tensions in nearly 1.000 municipalities

This report from the Central Reinsurance Fund (CCR), the public reinsurer, concludes that 97,7% of the approximately 35.000 French municipalities do not present difficulties in accessing home insurance for occupants of individual houses, because around thirty, sometimes more, insurance companies are active there.

The Observatory, both awaited and dreaded by insurers, however identifies 903 municipalities where the latter are becoming less common: 568 are in so-called "slight" tension of insurance supply, and 335 in "moderate" tension.

The work focuses on access to multi-risk home insurance for individual houses. It cross-references data on the presence of insurers, at the municipal level, with three types of perils covered by the natural disaster compensation scheme: cyclones, floods and the phenomenon of clay shrinkage and swelling (RGA), which weakens the many buildings constructed on clay soils.

"The initial findings call for increased vigilance. Weak signals of tension are emerging locally, particularly in certain overseas territories and exposed metropolitan municipalities," emphasizes the Director General of the CCR, Edouard Vieillefond, in the introduction to the report.

These tensions "are particularly concentrated in the East, the Massif Central, Corsica," the report specifies, as well as in the overseas departments and regions where all municipalities are facing a situation of moderate tension.

In light of these findings, the executive branch will launch a mission tasked with conducting a "dedicated analysis of insurance coverage" in the overseas territories, in order to address the tensions observed in these territories and "identify solutions", particularly concerning specific risks such as cyclones, AFP learned from government sources.

The Ministers of the Economy, Roland Lescure, and of Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, have identified several courses of action. They are expected to speak on Monday at the presentation of the report alongside the CCR (Regional Chamber of Commerce) to share these proposals.

Overall, the government believes that insurance coverage is "robust across the entire territory".

In particular, he wants to change the natural disaster guarantee scheme ("Cat Nat"), which is financed by additional premiums paid by policyholders.

And he plans to commit to reassessing every five years the surcharge rate applied to multi-risk contracts for individuals and businesses, to ensure "that there is always a level which guarantees the sustainability of the scheme", in accordance with a recommendation from the Court of Auditors.