A week ago, the village of Bihucourt in Pas-de-Calais was destroyed by a tornado. 90 homes were affected. While the workers mandated by the insurance companies have already started the work, the victims see fake craftsmen passing by.

In the streets of the Pas-de-Calais town of Bihucourt, the traces of the tornado are still there. Around 19:00 last Sunday, a tornado surprised the 350 inhabitants and devastated the village. 90 homes were affected, 48 of which were too damaged to be used, even partially, and around 150,200 people need to be rehoused.

A week later, reconstruction work began. Since this type of event is covered by all home insurance contracts, workers authorized by insurance companies are already on the job. And some take advantage of it: since the tragedy, the inhabitants of Bihucourt have seen fake tradesmen passing by.

“We need help, not to be pushed”

One of the victims, Pascal, testifies at the microphone of BFMTV to have seen since the tornado passed “a line of 150 roofers who came quickly to help us”. “But of the 150, only 20-25 were sent by our insurance,” he sighs. Some claim to be conducting “counter-expertise” and that local residents are “forced to pay”.

“We have already been hit enough, we are marked, we need help, not to be pushed”, torments the victim.

Faced with this fraudulent parade, the town hall decided, with the help of the gendarmerie, to filter all the experts in the city. “There was a danger, so to protect people as much as possible, we filter”, explains city councilor Benoît-Vincent Caille. According to the mayor, these arrivals also entail a risk of “suraciddent”. “The first few days, people came from all over,” he recalls.

Notice of vigilance

To protect residents, the municipality is also sending a message of vigilance. It reminds the local residents that the victims have no costs to shift: the payment of the repair work is solely the responsibility of the insurance.

In order to facilitate the procedures, the Covéa group, which owns the insurance companies MAAF, MMA and GMF, instead of the 5-day declaration period, has announced extraordinary measures, in particular bringing the declaration period to 30 days with the possibility of immediate advance of compensations, and payment for rehousing in a year.