The damage after Sunday’s fire is enormous at the caravan camp in Eindhoven. Two cars have been completely destroyed and a third has significant damage and is full of fire extinguishing water. Time to call the insurance company, you might think. But it’s not that simple. The residents of the caravan camp are not insured, no reluctance, but it is almost impossible.
Miek is chatting with Broer on Tuesday morning at the trailer park. Two days after the devastating fire, it is still the talk of the town among the residents of the camp.
“No one is insured here.”
Brother shows the damage. “The fire started in the middle car, nothing is left of it. And the two cars next to it have also become uninhabitable.” He talks in a hoarse voice. “That’s because I was in the caravan during the fire on Sunday. We thought someone was still sleeping in the bed.” That turned out not to be the case, but Brother had inhaled smoke.
“Nobody is insured here,” says Miek. “I’ve lived here for 35 years and I’ve never had insurance.” The residents of the burned-out caravans cannot fall back on the insurance either. That is why a fundraiser has been set up for both the completely destroyed caravan as the uninhabitable cars next to it.
“We have a stamp and that is why we are refused.”
“Discrimination”, Broer calls it. “We as caravan dwellers have a stamp and that is why insurers refuse us.” In 2016, Reaal Schadeverzekeringen terminated 232 insurance policies for caravans in one go. Two years later, the Institute for Human Rights ruled that this involved discrimination. “This is a prohibited discrimination on the basis of race.”
Barbara van der Rest of the Dutch Association of Insurers says that a caravan can be insured. “But this is not possible with every insurer.” Every organization decides for itself which risks they do and do not want to insure. “Insuring your caravan against damage is not impossible, but you can go to fewer places.”
“Actually, what has burned down is priceless.”
That it is virtually impossible to insure a caravan against fire is apparent from this list: Centraal Beheer, FBTO and Interpolis do not insure caravans at caravan centers. Mobile homes with a fixed address. The insurers that always exclude caravans include ABN Amro, Aon Direct, Ditzo, de Goudse, ING, Klaverblad, Nationale-Nederlanden, nowGo, Ohra, Reaal and United Insurance.
Insurer De Vereende did offer such insurance until eight years ago, but pulled the plug. The reason? “We only had three hundred insurance policies. This meant that we received too little premium to be able to cover damage,” says spokesperson Bert Sonneveld. In recent years, the call from residents of caravan camps has become louder. can come back.
It is difficult for Broer to estimate the damage after Sunday’s fire. “Actually, what has burned down is priceless. There is so much emotion in a car. But for now it is important that a caravan comes back and that they can slowly rebuild it themselves.”
