Heavy rain and flooded cellars also occur in the Würmtal.
Insurance brokers explain the importance of natural hazards insurance, what to consider and why demand has increased.
Würmtal
- devastated places, flooded houses and people who are suddenly left with nothing.
The flood disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia shocked and alarmed many people.
Since the floods, insurance brokers in the Würmtal have also recorded an increased demand for elementary insurance.
Such strong and destructive floods as in North Rhine-Westphalia or Rhineland-Palatinate are unlikely in the largely flat Würmtal. Especially since higher amounts of water in the Würm are also dampened by Lake Starnberg and Leutstettener Moos, according to Christian Leeb, the head of the Munich Water Management Authority. “It is very rare for the Würm to get flooded,” says Leeb. The last major flood in which the Würm overflowed its banks and flooded Keller in the Würmtal was in July 1999. At that time, the water in Leutstetten was 1.92 meters. A flood in August 2010 was less pronounced and less serious.
If there is a renewed risk of flooding, the flood intelligence service warns the municipalities, which then also inform the citizens about the danger.
The Bräuhausstrasse and the Pasinger Strasse in Planegg and the Stefanusstrasse, the Pasinger Strasse, the Paul-Eipper-Weg and the Kirchweg in Graefelfing are particularly at risk from the floods of the Würm.
An overview of the natural hazard situation in the Würmtal is also available on the Internet at Umweltatlas.bayern.de.
"More frequent heavy rain to be expected in the future"
In contrast to the rarely occurring floods, however, heavy rain could fall over the entire Würmtal and flood the cellars.
And in connection with climate change, according to Leeb, more heavy rain events are to be expected in the future.
Alexander Wimmer, managing director of the independent "Versicherungsmakler Wimmer GmbH" in Planegg, only recently had to deal with a heavy rainfall in Pasing as an insurance broker. The water in the cellar stood a meter high. The damage: around 60,000 euros. "Such extreme weather situations are occurring more and more frequently, so natural hazard insurance is very important," says Wimmer. He himself has taken one for a long time and basically offers it to all of his customers. It is important to know that natural hazards insurance can be taken out in addition to home insurance and also in addition to household insurance.
While building insurance protects homeowners against fire damage, lightning strikes, water damage and storm and hail damage, the natural hazard insurance also covers damage caused by heavy rain, floods, snow loads, avalanches, landslides, sinkholes, earthquakes and even a volcanic eruption.
Everything that is inside a house or apartment, i.e. any furnishings such as furniture, clothing, household appliances, books and other items, on the other hand, must be covered by household insurance, which applies in the event of fire damage, water damage, storm damage, burglary and theft.
In the event of a basement flooded due to heavy rain, additional insurance against natural hazards is required for household insurance.
The average prices for elementary insurance
For an average single-family house in the Würmtal, the inclusion of a natural hazard insurance would cost between 130 and 150 euros per year, according to Wimmer. "With possible damage of 60,000 euros, this is very cheap," says Wimmer. The amount depends on the size of the apartment (the higher the number of square meters, the higher the insurance premium), the residential area (the closer the building is to the water, the more expensive) and the so-called ZÜRS zone, which indicates how high the risk is Flood is. The whole of Germany is divided into these danger zones from levels one to five. The higher the level, the higher the amount of elementary insurance. Level five, as occurs in Passau, for example, cannot be insured at all because of the high risk of flooding.The Würmtal, on the other hand, is almost completely in zone one and therefore has relatively low prices.
However, all house numbers that are in close proximity to the Würm are an exception.
“For example, almost all of the buildings on Pasinger Strasse in Planegg, which runs parallel to Würm, are located in ZÜRS zone four,” says Gerhard Friemelt, Allianz's general representative in Neuried.
With a sum insured of 100,000 euros, the contribution for natural hazards would be 370 euros for household insurance and 150 euros for home insurance.
In contrast to this, with the same sum insured of 100,000 euros in ZÜRS zone one, such as at an address on Bahnhofstrasse in Planegg, the contributions for natural hazard insurance would amount to 47 euros for household insurance and 67 euros for residential building insurance.
Demand increased even before the floods
At the Allianz in Neuried, too, elementary insurance is currently in great demand. According to general agent Friemelt, the demand has not only increased because of the flood disaster, but also because heavy rain events in Germany are generally increasing. "An insurance against natural hazards is worthwhile for everyone," he says. Most of his customers have long since signed one, and those who do not have one yet receive individual advice. It is important to remember that a newly concluded natural hazard insurance only takes effect after a waiting period of two weeks.
"I generally recommend natural hazards insurance to everyone," says Soheil Esfandiary, an independent insurance broker in Graefelfing. No matter how high the probability is and whether the place of residence is near a body of water or not - in the event of elemental damage it is ultimately about existence, says Esfandiary. 99 percent of his customers are already insured against natural hazards, and since the flood disaster, many inquiries have come from new customers. “People are more sensitive and ask about insurance cover.” His tip for anyone who still wants to be insured against natural hazards: Always have the measurement of the living space checked by an expert. So balconies, terraces and the boiler room are not part of the living space, a basement room that is used as a hobby room and thus as living space,but nice.
