How to receive compensation from the flooding scheme

You will receive a receipt when the insurance company has received your flood damage claim from your insurance company. You will also be given guidance about how the case will proceed, and contact details for your case officer in the insurance company.

When all necessary information has been obtained, the Danish Nature Agency will assess whether your damage meets the conditions for coverage under the scheme. It is a condition for receiving compensation that the water level in the waterway or lake has been at a rare high. This water level must not occur more frequently than every 20 years. And the flooding must be from a waterway or a lake. The Danish Nature Agency has technical equipment and the expertise to assess this.

A loss adjuster will contact you to arrange a time for inspection of the damage with you. The loss adjuster will prepare a report with a statement of the value of the damage.

When the loss adjuster has inspected the damage with you, the loss adjuster will prepare a statement of the damage. Your insurance company sends the report to you and you have 14 days to make any comments and ask any questions.

The Danish Natural Hazards Council's secretariat sends a decision to you, stating whether you are entitled to compensation for your damage. The secretariat assesses this on the basis of the loss adjuster's statement and the other information in the case.

Your insurance company decides on the amount of compensation you are entitled to. The decision is based on the loss adjuster's statement of the damage, and you are notified when the compensation is ready for payment.

When the Danish Natural Hazards Council pays compensation, it does so in order that you can restore the property damaged. Consequently, you generally do not receive compensation as a sum total, but as amounts intended to pay for the repair of specific items of damage. For some damage, compensation is paid only when you have submitted an invoice for the repair.

For movable property (contents, etc.) and for small contracts, you can receive compensation immediately, i.e. without having submitted an invoice. However, you should still be aware that the money must be used to repair the damage for which it is intended. If the damage is not repaired, the Danish Natural Hazards Council may demand that you repay the money received.

If you are a tradesman yourself or if you want to repair part or all of the damage yourself, it is possible to have the compensation recalculated so that you can do the work yourself. However, please note that you only receive compensation for materials and an hourly rate of DKK 100. Notify your insurance company if you want this type of compensation.

If you want a cash amount in final settlement of the compensation, you can also receive cash compensation. This is calculated at a lower value, market value, and may not exceed the value of your actual loss.

When you receive compensation from the Danish Natural Hazards Council for damage to a building, it is registered in the BBR building and housing register. This means that it is possible to see that the building has been damaged by flooding. This also means that you will have to pay a higher excess for future claims. The registration covers all buildings that are insured under the same fire insurance policy as the damaged building.

Your case will remain open at the Danish Natural Hazards Council until all compensation has been paid or the case has become statute-barred.

When the total compensation has been paid to you, you will be notified that you cannot receive further compensation and that the case is being closed.

You should be aware that your claim for compensation from the Danish Natural Hazards Council is statute-barred after 10 years. This means that you must ensure that you have repaired your damage no later than 10 years after you were notified by your insurance company that you could receive compensation. If this is not possible, and changes occur in the case, you must notify your insurance company.