Guide · Posséder à distance
Damage to your property while you are abroad: what to do
Reporting deadlines, protective measures, joint statement, the insurers' convention and the loss adjuster: how to proceed when damage occurs and nobody is on site.
A claim is badly handled from a distance not because the steps are complicated, but because they all run on a clock: a few days to report, a few days to limit the damage, a few weeks for the adjuster. This page gives the order of operations, alongside our reference page on keeping watch over a property.
The first forty-eight hours
Three things happen from the moment the damage is discovered, and the order matters.
Photograph before any action, widely and from afar as well as close up: the overall view of the room, the presumed origin, the belongings affected, the ceiling or wall concerned. These images are the only evidence of the initial state, and they will no longer exist after the first intervention.
Take protective measures next, meaning those that prevent things getting worse: shutting off the water, tripping a circuit, sheeting a roof, securing a forced opening. They are expected of the policyholder, who has a duty to limit the damage, and their invoices are covered. Permanent repairs, by contrast, wait for the adjuster, on pain of destroying the evidence.
Report, finally, within the period matching the type of loss: two working days for theft, after filing a police complaint, five working days for water damage, fire or storm, ten days after publication of the order for a natural disaster. Reporting is done through the insurer’s online account or in writing, and can be completed later: an incomplete report in time beats a perfect file out of time.
The joint statement, and why someone must be on site
When the water comes from the neighbour’s home or starts in yours, the document that unlocks everything is the joint water-damage statement, signed by the two occupants concerned. It identifies the origin, the date, the damage found and the respective insurers. Without it, each insurer works in its own corner and the file bogs down.
In a block of flats, a convention between insurers then takes over where the damage stays below 5,000 euros excluding tax per damaged unit: a single insurer handles it, appoints the adjuster and apportions internally afterwards. The owner has only one counterpart, which changes a great deal from another time zone.
That statement cannot be signed by email. It is one of the cases where the physical presence of someone you have authorised is worth several weeks of saved delay, just like giving a plumber access for a leak search.
The adjuster’s visit, and what is prepared beforehand
The adjuster appointed by the insurer comes to record, cost and rule on cover. Their visit is prepared: gather the before photos, the invoices for emergency measures, proof of value for damaged belongings, the maintenance history of the equipment involved, and evidence that the home was not in a state of prolonged vacancy within the meaning of the policy.
That last point is what tips the files of non-resident owners. An insurer discovering, at the time of the claim, that the home is empty eleven months a year may invoke the vacancy clause, or apply the proportionate reduction of indemnity provided by the Insurance Code where the situation had not been declared. That is exactly what a declaration made in advance corrects, and what a series of regular visits documents.
If the adjuster’s conclusions do not suit you, a counter-assessment is possible at your expense, and most policies provide a third-adjuster procedure where disagreement persists. That recourse has a cost, and it is decided on the basis of the costing, not of irritation.
What distance requires you to set up beforehand
A claim well handled from abroad is a claim for which three things already existed. A set of keys accessible on site, with a provider or a neighbour, because a locksmith called in an emergency costs more than the whole arrangement. A written authority allowing a named person to record the damage, sign a joint statement and receive tradespeople. And a documented visit history, which dates the last known state of the property and proves the watch.
These three elements belong to the same discipline as the rest of the watch: the rhythm of visits, frost protection before winter, meter readings. They are completed by an administrative check often forgotten, that of the owner’s annual occupancy declaration, on which the tax the administration sends you depends.
Damage has occurred in your French property and you cannot travel: the personal study offered by French Realty organises the on-site record, transmission to the insurer and follow-up of the adjustment, with your dedicated contact.
Frequently asked questions
Within what time must a claim be reported?
Two working days for theft, five working days for water damage, fire or storm, ten days after publication of the order in the official gazette for a natural disaster. The period runs from becoming aware of the loss, which makes the date of the finding decisive: a time-stamped visit report establishes when the damage was discovered.
Can repairs be done before the loss adjuster visits?
Protective measures, those that stop the damage getting worse, are not only allowed but expected: shutting off the water, sheeting a roof, securing an opening. Permanent repairs wait for the adjuster, otherwise the evidence of damage disappears. The practical rule is one gesture: photograph extensively before acting, and keep every invoice for emergency measures.
Who handles the file when water damage comes from a neighbour?
In a block of flats, a convention between insurers designates a single insurer to handle the file and appoint the adjuster where the damage stays below 5,000 euros excluding tax per damaged unit. It speeds things up and avoids cross-claims, but assumes a joint statement signed between the occupants concerned, so someone on site to sign it.