Spain's Flood Insurer Is Public. Can You Actually Reach It?

Spain has a public insurer for floods, the Consorcio de Compensación de Seguros — Spain's public insurer for floods and other extraordinary events. You cannot buy cover from the Consorcio directly. It reaches you only through a private home or contents policy that carries its recargo — surcharge, a small line on your premium receipt. Without one, the route is a means-tested state aid that excludes second homes.

Sunday made this live in Málaga city. The 18 October storm caused more than 50 weather-related incidents in the El Palo district, including flooded homes and roads and fallen trees. People in El Palo are still cleaning up.

Find your latest premium receipt, not the policy booklet. The Consorcio surcharge has to appear on it, and the premium has to be paid. Subject to the policy's conditions, the public insurer covers extraordinary flooding for that home or its contents, with no excess and no disaster declaration needed; a single flooded house qualifies.

Timing: a new policy's Consorcio flood cover generally starts seven calendar days after it is issued or takes effect, whichever is later; a policy that replaces an old one without a gap carries straight on, except for cover it adds or increases.

The surcharge proves you can reach the public insurer. It does not prove every rain loss gets paid.

Rain that falls directly on your property, or that your roof, terrace, drains or patio collect and send indoors, is not extraordinary flooding in the Consorcio's book. A sewer or drain that fails is excluded too, unless the failure was itself caused by a covered event. Those losses stay with whatever your private policy says, so the second check is the policy wording itself: what it says about rain through the roof, the terrace or the drains.

Where the water came in is evidence, not the decision; the adjuster weighs it with everything else. If that exchange stalls, a refused claim, a loss adjuster who will not move, an insurer and a broker pointing at each other, that is Navigator work. Work is in €30-an-hour blocks with a free estimate, and we'll tell you first if we don't think we can help.

Tenants first: the landlord's building policy generally does not cover your belongings. Without a contents policy of your own, this section is yours.

The route is ordinary state aid under Royal Decree 307/2005: habitual home only, so second homes are out, no disaster declaration needed. Households with net income above €25,200 a year (one or two people; higher for larger households) are excluded; above €10,080 the award is cut to at most half. You apply to the Subdelegación del Gobierno — the central government's office in the province at Paseo de Sancha 64, 29016 Málaga, within one month from the day after the storm ends; they have six months to decide. It tops up other payments and cannot exceed the damage.

Tell the insurer, or the Consorcio, within seven days of finding the damage, or longer if your policy allows. Late notice lets the insurer claim what the delay cost; it does not by itself cancel the claim. Photograph the damage and where the water came in before you clear up. Keep invoices for urgent repairs. Consorcio claims go through the online form any day, or 900 222 665, Monday to Friday 09:00 to 18:00, English available.

To clarify a detail from our 29 December issue: there is no rule that a flood claim is paid in full within three months. The insurer, or the Consorcio, must pay at least the minimum it can already be shown to owe within 40 days of receiving your claim; if it does not, or if it has not paid within three months of the loss, it can owe you late-payment interest.

A refinement on the 15 January issue: for a flood the Consorcio covers, a car has no excess. Your own policy's excess applies only to damage the Consorcio does not cover.

US citizens voting from Spain, 3 November. Election-office local times.

California: ordinary registration closed 19 October; late registrants: county election office.

Pennsylvania: overseas civilians intending to return: registration closed 19 October. Military voters and eligible family members can register until 2 November. Ballot requests must be received by 11:59pm on 2 November. Overseas civilians whose return is uncertain cannot register in Pennsylvania but can request a federal-only ballot, received by 5pm on 27 October.

Florida: requests for a mailed ballot must arrive by 5pm on 22 October. Requests from 24 October to 7pm on 3 November need an emergency affidavit; ballots must be received by 3 November.

New York: ballot requests received by 24 October if unregistered, 27 October if registered; return postmarked by 3 November, received by 16 November.

Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot (FWAB): California/New York accept it as registration by their deadlines; Pennsylvania varies by voter status; Florida requires prior registration and a ballot request. Your state: fvap.gov.

¿Mi póliza incluye el recargo del Consorcio? — Does my policy include the Consorcio surcharge?

Spain's public flood insurer is reached only through a private policy carrying its surcharge, so the check happens at the receipt, before the storm. At least five wet episodes in ten months make this an admin season as much as a weather one. The policy conditions and the cause of the damage still matter.

Confirmed October 2026

See you on the paseo — A. and the WaypointSur team, reading the small print by torchlight.