It burns more and more here and there, but the damage to Notre Dame in Paris is considerable and is said to have been caused by maintenance work. Our office will have more to do with the settlement of fire damage. The claimant then appeals to his fire insurer who tries to recover from a liable contractor who in turn appeals to his subcontractor (s), until he reaches the person who caused the damage. The question then is whether in this chain every (sub) contractor has the right insurance: not so much a fire insurance policy, but the B.A. operation should be invoked here. For damage caused by fire, smoke, explosion and water damage (referred to simply as BROW in insurance jargon), the insured damage is often capped, which of course is dramatic in the case of damage of this magnitude.
According to Ian Voeten (member of the management committee of Kegels & Van Antwerpen, responsible damage, and construction insurance specialist), such a ceiling varies greatly depending on the age of the insurance contract, the insurer and the type of contract. Older contracts had a ceiling of EUR 125,000 for BROW as standard, current contracts can provide cover equal to the main limit, but insurers are usually directed towards a sub limit (per claim) that is lower than the main limit in BA operation or product or service liability
There is also the difference between BA exploitation (damage to third parties during the works, BA exploitation after delivery (damage to third parties after the insured person carried out the work or no longer had control of it) but also the 'object entrusted' coverage in the BA exploitation that also damages the goods which is being worked on (contractual damage) and which always has a much lower coverage limit than the BA exploitation and BROW guarantees! The definition of this entrusted object is highly dependent on the definition used by an insurer. for one insurer, a roof replaces only the eaves that make up the entrusted object, and for another insurer the side of the roof on which one works, or even the entire roof - in older contracts, even the entire house could be labeled as entrusted.
We always advise our clients to take a good look at the extent to which you are actually insured when taking out such insurance. If you are underinsured for the risk that you run when taking on a specific job, you can always opt for a temporary guarantee extension or a permanent increase in your insured limit.
If you are not sure whether you are properly insured today, then it is best to contact an insurance broker and / or a lawyer, both of whom have best experience in the sector. of his insurance company to submit a BA company, specifying the sub-limits that apply therein.
