Jean-Luc Dhers’ house burned down in 2019. In order to receive insurance, he has to rebuild his home, located in Bondigoux, north of Toulouse. Problem: no bank wants to give him a mortgage. He risks losing everything before September 2023.
Jean-Luc Dhers was given a reprieve. In extreme. Within a week, this construction worker could say goodbye to the promised jackpot after the fire in his house located in Bondigoux, a small town north of Toulouse (see box). Not necessarily very comfortable with numbers and paperwork, he had left it to Johann, his son-in-law, to negotiate with Assurances du Crédit Mutuel (ACM) for an extra period to receive full compensation after the disaster. . He now has until 29 September 2023 to obtain the €186,797 to which he is (normally) entitled.
Jean-Luc Dhers, here surrounded by his daughter Lola and his son-in-law Johann, has lived in an apartment for three years. He could never see the color of the 186,797 euros that his insurance company had promised.
“ACM took a step. I won a year. Initially the deadline was the end of September 2022. But in reality I’m stuck. It’s very simple, at the moment there is no bank that agrees to give me a new mortgage because I’m alone, too old (he’s 53 ed. note), smoke and the interest is backtracked. Without this loan I can’t finance the rebuilding of my house. But if I want the money back from the insurance, I have to finance the work and then give them the invoices so they release the funds. I think that’s absolutely insane. I only discovered this clause months after the fire… No one had told me anything! “, he protests.
In 2006, Jean-Luc Dhers and his wife had their house built entirely in wood on a beautiful wooded plot of almost 3,000 m2.
Divorce changes everything
“Back then it was quite innovative as a type of construction, and since my father was a carpenter, he could help me with the final touches. That way I could lower the costs,” says the construction professional.
The couple had taken out a mortgage of 179,000 euros to finance the project. Problem, they were separated in 2017. This is the origin of the current blockage. As Jean Luc explains: “After the disaster, the lending bank wanted to recover its balls. They took 110,000 euros out of the 145,000 euros I had received immediately from ACM. I also had a loan of 15,000 euros for solar panels that I had to close. I also had to pay a nice amount to my ex, which was equal to half of the refund of the monthly benefits that I had already paid. Result, upon arrival I only have a few tens of thousands of euros in savings. A well short of what is needed to rebuild. »
If ACM has given additional time to Jean-Luc Dhers to find the necessary funding, it is no longer possible. The insurance company considers that it has dealt with the case “in accordance with the law and the provisions of the home insurance agreement”.
“For reasons of confidentiality, we cannot publish the elements of the case that relate to the insured’s personal situation and the difficulties he may encounter. We are ready, if Mr. Dhers so wishes, to shed new light on him with the competent services. If he still feels aggrieved, he will always have the opportunity to enter the mediation of the competent insurance company free of charge to deal with disputes. It is an independent entity. ACM’s policy is to follow the decisions of this body”, clarifies the press service of this subsidiary of Crédit Mutuel Jean-Luc Dhers has taken note of this and intends to share it with elected officials in the region to condemn “this injustice”.
