French riots of June and July 2023

On June 27, 2023, Nahel Merzouk, 17, was shot dead by a police officer during a traffic stop in Nanterre. Over the following nights, into the first days of July, hundreds of municipalities saw cars set on fire, shops looted and public buildings attacked: town halls, schools, police stations, libraries. France Assureurs first published an estimate of about 650 million euros of insured damage, raised to 730 million in September and then to 793 million in March 2024, far above the 2005 riots, whose insured cost had been put by the FFSA at 150 to 160 million. On the policy side, riot falls under the riot and civil commotion cover, often bundled into commercial package policies and into those of local authorities, outside the CatNat regime. The loss hit where the market was already thin. Municipalities, insured by a handful of carriers, received cancellations and higher deductibles, up to several million euros for some cities, and many tenders drew no bids, to the point that the government commissioned a review of how insurable local authorities still were. Then comes recovery. Article L. 211-10 of the Internal Security Code makes the State liable for damage done by force by gatherings, and the subrogated insurer can rely on it; everything turns on proving an identifiable gathering, which administrative courts generally deny for actions by small, mobile, organized groups: for Clichy-sous-Bois in 2005, the Conseil d'État (July 11, 2011, No. 331669) allowed only the damage of the first night. A large share of the 2023 claims falls on that side of the line.

• France Assureurs, cost of the June and July 2023 riots, estimates of July 2023, September 2023 and March 2024