As the death toll continues to climb and losses accumulate in the aftermath of the Al-Haouz earthquake, many affected individuals find themselves without insurance coverage.
Despite efforts to introduce natural catastrophe insurance in Morocco, significant limitations persist, leaving residents vulnerable to the devastating consequences of such events.
Around five years ago, some insurance companies introduced specialized insurance coverage for natural catastrophes, but this coverage was primarily limited to automobiles.
It became mandatory for Moroccans to include this coverage, encouraging participation.
However, there is a critical step before claiming insurance money in this case: unless Morocco officially declares an event as a natural catastrophe in the official journal, those affected cannot benefit from this insurance.
According to Insurance Agent 1, who spoke anonymously to MoroccoLatestNews, “There is nothing that people affected can do.” The lack of an official declaration by Morocco essentially renders the insurance coverage ineffective for those in need.
The situation is particularly dire for homeowners. Insurance expert number 2 explained that individuals typically select appropriate insurance policies for their homes based on their possessions and property size.
However, the earthquake has exposed a gap in coverage, especially in rural areas where houses lack any form of insurance. This gap is attributed to a lack of understanding or recognition of the catastrophic nature of events like earthquakes.
Insurance expert number 3 added a stark perspective, stating, “If Morocco doesn’t officially declare it soon, we might as well consider that imposed insurance as a tax and move on,” referring to the automobile tax.
The urgency of addressing this issue is clear, as the earthquake’s victims face mounting challenges in the absence of adequate insurance coverage, which is why the insurance professionals speaking to MoroccoLatestNews always expressed hope for more governmental initiatives to effectively help rebuild the houses lost.
Under the same light, the Moroccan government has made it possible for all Moroccans, both here and abroad, as well as private and public organizations, to make donations through a special fund, known as number 126, which was specially established to deal with the aftermath of the “Al-Haouz earthquake.”
The fund was put in place to pay for various costs associated with dealing with the repercussions of this earthquake as well as costs associated with building reserves and stockpiles of basic necessities at the level of each region of the Kingdom.