Hail, wind, floods:if the climate also damages cars.The race for policies begins

Extreme weather events increasingly end up causing damage to cars too.And now the majority of Italians have decided to protect themselves:there are those who have already taken out insurance coverage and those who are thinking about it

ROME – More than 4.6 million Italians with their own car have suffered damage to their car due to accidents in the last year. natural disasters or bad weather;between them, almost 1 in 2 did not have an insurance policy that would protect the vehicle from atmospheric events.Here are some of the data that emerged from the survey that Facile.it commissioned from the mUp Research and Norstat institutes.

THE MOST COMMON HARMFUL EVENTS

From the study - carried out on a representative sample of the national population - we can see how, for those who suffered damage to their vehicle, the most widespread damaging event was hail, indicated by 67.9% of respondents.Followed by damage caused by wind, both direct and caused by transported items, suffered by 25.7% of damaged interviewees.Water also caused quite a few problems since 19.3% of those who suffered damage attributed the blame to floods, floods and to water in general, once again for both direct and indirect damage.

CAR POLICIES AGAINST WEATHER EVENTS

Looking more closely at the results of the investigation, it emerges that, at the time of the accident, almost 2 million Italians had no insurance coverage against atmospheric events.Some of the damaged interviewees, however, seem to have learned, albeit late;following the damage suffered, more than 7 out of 10 respondents decided to take out a policy that protects the car from atmospheric events and natural disasters;in detail, 30% have already taken out insurance coverage, While 44% intend to do so.

HOW MUCH DOES THE GUARANTEE AGAINST NATURAL DISASTERS COST?

First of all it is good to know that insurance for natural and atmospheric events is an additional guarantee compared to the mandatory car insurance and which can therefore be added, at the discretion of the insured, when signing up for the car policy.This warranty protects the owner of the car from damage caused to the vehicle by atmospheric events such as, for example, floods, floods, hail, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and landslides.To analyze the costs of the policy against natural and atmospheric events, Facile.it examined a car with an average value of 10,000 euros and discovered how, in 2023, the average premium of this guarantee in Italy was equal to around 97 euros.Despite the increase in severe weather events and although the amount is limited compared to the benefits guaranteed in the event of damage, there are still few Italian motorists who choose to add this additional guarantee;according to the analysis by Facile.it, between September and December 2023, just 5.5% of those who renewed/subscribed their policy added the weather event guarantee.

WHAT THE INSURANCE COVERAGE INCLUDES

But what does this coverage include in detail?And how does it work?Looking at specific cases, they are generally understood damage caused to the vehicle by things carried by the wind and falling trees, but only if these are a consequence of atmospheric events explicitly included in the contract.Pay attention, as always, to exclusions;as regards water-related damage, for example, damage caused to the engine following circulation in flooded areas is normally excluded.
Some insurance companies, in the event of damage, require the insured to provide proof of the event through articles published in the media (whether online or in paper form), a written statement from the local authorities or, again, confirmation from the nearest meteorological observatory.
Lastly, pay attention to the fact that, in some cases, the policy covers natural events it can only be purchased if added to other additional guarantees such as, for example, fire and theft, glass or vandalism.

“When you are struggling with the choice of a specific guarantee, the advice is: carefully check what conditions are offered, the limits, the exclusions and the presence or absence of deductibles - explains Andrea Ghizzoni, Managing Director of Insurance at Facile.it - ​​In the case of coverage against atmospheric events it is good to know that many companies apply an overdraft, i.e. a fixed amount or a percentage – which normally varies between 5% and 10% – not covered by the policy.Precisely for this reason the suggestion is to compare several offers and choose the one that best meets our needs".