Subsidence or landslides due to soil drying out are becoming more common during prolonged periods of drought. Houses built on such soil are prone to cracks or other (stability-threatening) damage as a result of this subsidence or these landslides. Older buildings in particular are at risk of serious damage.
The Act of 17 September 2005 [1] already obliged insurers to include damage caused by certain natural disasters (including landslides and subsidence) in their fire insurance policy for simple risks. As a result, since 2005, damage due to “a movement of a significant mass of the subsoil” (which is due, in whole or in part, to a natural phenomenon other than a flood or an earthquake) has been covered under the home insurance (Article 124, § 1, d) of the Insurance Code).
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[1]Act of 17 September 2005 amending, as regards insurance for natural disasters, the Act of 25 June 1992 on non-marine insurance and the Act of 12 July 1976 on compensation for certain damage caused to private property by natural disasters, Belgian Official Gazette of 11 October 2005, 43.646.