Technological disaster declaration
The French regime, created after the AZF plant explosion, that guarantees full and fast compensation for damage to homes caused by a major industrial accident declared by government order.
When an accident at a classified industrial site, during transport of hazardous materials or at an underground storage facility damages a large number of homes, the administrative authority may declare a technological disaster by order. Individuals' property insurance policies must then fully compensate damage to homes and their contents, without deductible and without applying caps or depreciation beyond certain limits, within three months. The insurer then seeks recovery from the liable operator and its insurer. If the victim is uninsured, the compulsory insurance guarantee fund pays the compensation. The regime aims to prevent thousands of households from spending months without a home while liability is debated between industrial firms and insurers, which had marked the handling of the disaster that inspired it.
Established by Act No. 2003-699 of July 30, 2003, the regime draws the lessons of the explosion at the AZF plant in Toulouse on September 21, 2001, which killed 31 people and damaged tens of thousands of homes.
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