laws and policies
1990
Flood emergency fund
In Denmark, a non-technical solution for compensating damages exists. A Danish flood insurance scheme was arranged in form of an emergency fund for compensation payments due to flooding. The fund was established in 1990 as a result of several severe inundation events in Denmark. Since September 1. 2000 the fund has also been covering compensation payments for damage in forests.
The Storm Council (SC) is in charge of administrating the emergency fund. Compensation is paid to private persons, companies or farms who have suffered from flood damage or forest damage due to severe stormy events. Means for compensation payments are collected by an annual tax payment charged with all private fire insurance policies. An annual amount of 20 DKK (2.7EURO) is payable with each signed fire policy covering houses/buildings or movable property. In this way, the total annual revenue of about 80 million DKK (10.7 million EURO) is deposited at the Danish National Bank.
Four criteria must be met in the affected area for justifying compensation payments:
1. Wind of gale force in the area;
2. Water levels that occur, statistically, less than once in 20 years;
3. Flooding must have occurred in a wider geographical area;
4. Extreme wave conditions may play a role.
Further reading
Solutions for coastal protection in the Wadden Sea region, CPSL (2005)