How to Claim on Your Overseas Home Insurance: Deadlines, Loss Adjusters, and What to Do If You're Refused

Published on: July 22, 2026

Last reviewed: 22 July 2026. Deadlines and complaint routes differ by country and policy; the wording that applies to your claim governs.

Every insurance guide tells you which policy to buy. Almost none tells you what happens on the bad day: a neighbor calls about water coming under your door in Spain, or you arrive at the house in France to find a window forced. Claiming on a home you don't live in, in a language you may not speak, under deadlines you didn't know existed, is its own discipline. Here is the whole process, including the part insurers don't advertise: what to do when they say no.

The first 48 hours

  1. Make it safe, then stop the bleeding. You have a legal duty to mitigate: take reasonable steps to prevent further damage (shut off water, board a window, tarp a roof). Insurers can reduce payouts for losses you allowed to grow. Emergency repairs are fine; keep every receipt.
  2. Document before you touch. Photograph and video everything from wide shots to close-ups, before cleanup. Do not throw damaged items away; adjusters may want to inspect them.
  3. Report crime to the police immediately. For theft or vandalism, a police report (denuncia in Spain, plainte in France) is effectively mandatory for the claim, and usually needs to be filed fast.
  4. Notify the insurer in writing. A phone call starts the clock; an email or portal submission proves it.

Deadlines are shorter than you think

Notification periods are set by policy and national law, and they are unforgiving. As orientation only: in Spain, the standard legal deadline to notify is about seven days from when you knew of the loss; in France, typically five working days for most perils and just two for theft, while natural-catastrophe claims run on a separate clock tied to the official government decree; elsewhere, wordings often say "as soon as reasonably possible." Late notice is one of the easiest technical grounds for reducing or refusing a claim, which is precisely why second homes need a local keyholder or property manager who can discover damage while the deadline is still alive, not weeks later.

The loss adjuster is not your adjuster

For anything beyond a trivial claim, the insurer sends a loss adjuster (perito in Spain, expert in France) to assess cause and cost. Be present or represented, be factual, and hand over your evidence file, but remember whose client they are. Two counterweights exist:

  • Your own expert. In several European systems you have a formal right to appoint your own assessor. Spain's insurance law even provides a structured process: your perito, theirs, and if they disagree, a jointly appointed third whose view carries decisive weight. France has an equivalent contre-expertise tradition. Some policies contribute to the cost.
  • Public adjusters and claims consultants, common for large losses in many markets, manage the claim for a percentage. Worth it for major damage; overkill for a small leak.

Build the file like you'll need to appeal

Policy schedule; proof of ownership; a room-by-room inventory with photos, receipts or bank statements for valuable items; dated damage photos; the police report; two or three quotes from licensed local builders (foreign quotes carry little weight); invoices for emergency work; and certified translations where the insurer requires them. Log every call and email with dates in one running timeline: memory fades, files win.

Know your country's catastrophe machinery

Several countries route disaster losses through special schemes, and claiming works differently there:

  • Spain, Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros: floods, exceptional storms and other "extraordinary risks" are paid by this public fund, not your insurer's own account, but you access it through an in-force policy. The catastrophic floods of recent years were overwhelmingly Consorcio claims.
  • France, the CatNat regime: compensation for declared natural catastrophes requires an official inter-ministerial decree recognizing the event; your deadline to lodge the claim runs from that publication.
  • Turkey, DASK: earthquake damage to dwellings is handled through the compulsory earthquake insurance scheme, separate from (and alongside) any voluntary housing policy.

If your damage came from a headline-making event, check whether a scheme like this applies before assuming your standard perils section governs. Our guide to how the state catastrophe pools work covers these schemes in depth.

Why second-home claims get refused

The refusal letter usually cites one of a familiar list. Read your policy against it before the bad day:

  • Unoccupancy clauses. Cover often changes or lapses after the home is empty 30/60/90 consecutive days. This is the number-one second-home trap; we cover it in detail here.
  • Breached warranties: water not shut off in winter, alarm not set, security requirements unmet.
  • Undeclared holiday letting. Paying guests without telling the insurer can void the policy entirely; see the holiday-let insurance guide for the cover that letting actually requires.
  • Wear and tear versus an insured event. Gradual damp is maintenance; a burst pipe is a peril. Causation arguments are where experts earn their fees.
  • Underinsurance and the proportional rule. In much of Europe (Spain's regla proporcional, France's regle proportionnelle), insuring a €300k rebuild for €150k doesn't just cap you at €150k; it halves every claim payout. Keep sums insured current.

If the claim is rejected: the appeal ladder

  1. Demand the reasons in writing, with the specific policy clauses relied on. Vague refusals often soften under this request alone.
  2. Use the insurer's internal complaints procedure. Regulated insurers across Europe must operate one and respond within set periods (in the UK, eight weeks; one to two months is typical elsewhere). Rebut the cited clause with evidence, not emotion.
  3. Escalate to the ombudsman or ADR body, free in most countries: the UK's Financial Ombudsman Service, Ireland's FSPO, France's Médiateur de l'Assurance, Spain's complaints service under the insurance supervisor (DGSFP), Portugal's regulator-linked channels. The EU-wide FIN-NET network exists precisely to point cross-border consumers to the right national body. Decisions are typically binding on the insurer up to set limits, or highly persuasive.
  4. Court, mindful of the clock. Limitation periods for insurance disputes are short in several jurisdictions (commonly around two years in countries like France and Spain), and an ombudsman process doesn't always pause them. If serious money is at stake, get local legal advice early; check whether a legal-expenses section in your own policies would fund it.

The claim file checklist

  • Written notification within the deadline (email or portal, not just a call)
  • Photos and video from before any cleanup, plus the damaged items themselves
  • Police report for any theft or vandalism, filed immediately
  • Two or three quotes from licensed local builders
  • Receipts for every emergency repair
  • One running timeline of every call, email and visit

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to use the insurer's builders?
Usually you may propose your own quotes from licensed local trades, though some policies offer faster settlement through approved networks. Never let the insurer's convenience produce an under-scoped repair: the quotes define the money.

Can I run the whole claim from abroad?
Yes. Email, portals and a local keyholder or property manager for access make it workable, and a manager who can meet the adjuster is worth their annual fee in a single claim. Powers of attorney help for larger losses.

Will claiming raise my premium or get me non-renewed?
Possibly; claims history follows the property in many markets. That's an argument for absorbing genuinely trivial losses, never for delaying notification of a real one, since late notice risks the entire claim.

The damage happened while guests were renting the place. Now what?
If letting was declared and the right policy (holiday-let/landlord cover) is in place, claim normally. If it wasn't declared, take legal advice before saying anything, but expect a hard road; this is among the most common outright voidance grounds.

The bottom line

A claim is won in the first week and in the file. Mitigate, photograph, report, notify in writing, and meet the deadline; then treat the adjuster professionally while remembering whose client they are. If the answer is no, make the insurer put its reasons and clauses in writing and climb the ladder: internal complaint, ombudsman, court before the limitation clock runs. The owners who get paid are rarely the loudest; they are the best documented.

Sources & further reading

  • Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros, Spain's extraordinary-risks compensation scheme (consorseguros.es)
  • France, natural-catastrophe (CatNat) recognition and claim procedure (service-public.fr)
  • DASK, Turkey's compulsory earthquake insurance scheme (dask.gov.tr)
  • FIN-NET, the European Commission's network for cross-border financial dispute resolution (finance.ec.europa.eu)
  • UK Financial Ombudsman Service (financial-ombudsman.org.uk)

Notification deadlines and complaint periods cited are orientation as of publication; the policy wording and the national law that apply to your claim govern.

This article is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Deadlines, expert-appointment rights, ombudsman schemes and limitation periods differ by country and change over time; confirm the rules that apply to your policy and jurisdiction, ideally with local professional help for any significant loss.

JanusHermes is the cross-border real estate intelligence platform built for international buyers operating across 50+ countries. Explore markets, costs, and country-level intelligence at janushermes.com.

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