In a case that was recently heard in the court of appeal sitting in Montpellier, in 2010 a couple purchased a house from a private seller for €400,000.

In September 2014, following severe weather, the property was flooded. A week later, another flood occurred.

Following the bad weather, shortly afterwards the government issued a decree recognising a state of natural disaster in the commune, thereby opening up a right for owners to make a claim to their insurer for damage they may have suffered.

This was the twelfth such decree in the commune since 1982, including 6 for floods and mudslides. The seller of the property was on the list of victims of a natural disaster from a storm in December 2002.

In court the purchasers claimed that the sellers falsely stated at the time of the sale that there had never been a natural disaster that the property.

The notaire confirmed in court that the property had been flooded in December 2002 and that the sellers had been compensated for this loss but had chosen to conceal this information.

Under Article L125-5 of the code de l’environnement the seller of the property is required to inform the buyer on the state of risks, of any loss occurring during the period in which they were the owner of the property, or of which they themselves had been informed.

As a result, thirteen years after the signing of the deed of sale, the court declared annulment of the sale.

The sellers were ordered to return the sale price (€400,000) and to also compensate their buyer for the sale costs (€20,000) and notary fees (€26,000) making total compensation of €456,000.