Did they ruin your business? Did your car burn down? Did you have an event canceled because of the situation, after you already paid for it?
The author, Shmuel Steiner, is an attorney and mediator, specializing in tort and insurance, dealing with both property damage and personal injury.
In general, any damage caused to property or body as a result of an accident, as long as there is an insurance policy that covers the type of property or the event, the insurance company is obligated to compensate according to the terms of the policy, its issue and its extensions.
A distinction must be made between direct damage and indirect damage
The direct damage It is the value of the insured property on the day of the incident, according to a commonly accepted appraiser's assessment.
the indirect damage It is defined as consequential damage and in most cases it is not covered by insurance. For example, consequential damage can arise as a result of not arriving for an outbound flight, so that you lost a deal that you should have won, had it not been for the delay.
So, for example, also heartbreak due to the postponement of the scheduled wedding event.
Attack on a sangria restaurant in Haifa
Exclusion of a state of war, hostilities, etc
Most insurance policies in Israel exclude situations of damage due to war, invasion, action of a foreign enemy, act of hostilities, or acts of war, whether a state of war has been declared or not (such as the special situation now, where there is a limited conflict with Hamas in Gaza) , civil war, acts of sabotage and terrorism, insurrection, military or popular uprising, mutiny, rebellion, revolution, confiscation, military rule, siege or any events or factors that lead to the declaration or maintenance of a military regime or a state of siege.
What may cause the claim to be rejected?
At the same time, this is a legal situation in which the "state authorities" such as the Israel Police, the Ministry of Defense, the Property Tax Administrator and the Compensation Fund as defined in the Property Tax and Compensation Fund Law, 1961-XNUMX, have to determine whether the damages caused are indeed such and only with written confirmation from those parties , can cause the claim to be rejected.
It should be noted that there are insurance policies that have sweeping definitions and can include a proviso for a riot or commotion or a strike, for which or during which damages were caused that do not have insurance coverage.
Is there anything to do?
In my opinion, all property damage caused by Hamas rocket operations from Gaza, as well as all balloon terrorism and/or knife terrorism for which direct damage was caused, will be recognized by property tax.
Will terrorism by individuals, riots like here in Haifa, in other cities like Bat Yam, Acre, Netanya, where individuals, from both sides, burned, vandalized and caused damage to other people's property, be recognized by the insurance company?
It is not certain that you have insurance coverage and most likely the insurance company will try to disclaim responsibility and claim that the damages are not an accidental event, but were caused due to riots or due to the political situation - a kind of civil mary in a small town, so the result is not covered by the insurance coverage you have.
Were the people who were "lynched" while driving in their car? and they suffered bodily harm, will they be recognized as having been injured in a car accident? According to the law, the compensation for car accident damages will probably not recognize those as bodily injured in a car accident, because the vehicle was only the "scene" of the incident and not a cause or cause of the accident.
Can they sue another party?
In my humble opinion, to the extent that they have personal policies for bodily injury, certainly, and to the extent that they do not, it will still be possible to sue the police and the state who knew about the events of the riots, the riots and the special situation and failed to prevent them, and therefore it is possible that in the Bat Yam events, for example, it is possible to sue the state for negligence, especially when there is video footage, which indicates that there were police officers at the scene, but with insufficient force, and in any case, they did not intervene to separate and prevent the damage to property and body, therefore I believe that it is actionable.
In conclusion:
The High Court is of the opinion that claims can be filed, both in the insurance policies for the liabilities of the insurance company as long as it has not been declared that the damages are covered according to the Property Tax and Compensation Fund Law, 1961-XNUMX, as well as a negligence claim against the state and alternatively a claim for property tax.
The more the injured parties collect more evidence and bring in an appraiser on their behalf, right now, to document the amount of their damages, the more thoroughly and quickly it will be possible to deal with it, to exhaust the rights.
Answer to Sharon: Imprisonment for vandalism has never been 10 years in prison, even today anyone who caused you damage can be sued in a civil procedure. The question is where will he pay the money from. Because going to trial and getting a verdict is a piece of paper that can be hung in the living room at best.
The principle in tort law is a social idea in its origin: "spreading the costs of the damage" "the deep pocket principle"
That's why my proposal is practical: first, when an employee is injured in a factory due to negligence or a violation of a legal obligation such as work or fire safety norms, the corporation and its managers owe the bank and if the corporation is insured, then the insurance company will pay the damages to the third party. Here, too, the state and the institutions responsible for our personal safety were grossly negligent and did not act to prevent it, and therefore they are responsible for damages and for paying all the damages to the victims, so the state steps into the shoes of the victims and sues both criminally and civilly, as for the direct harmer, we must act mercilessly towards him, if a person comes with a knife Or with a firearm or with a Molotov cocktail to shoot to kill. If you didn't succeed in killing him, you will prosecute him for rebellion and Mary there is a section in the Penal Law, 1977-1977 for this matter. Sedition is the first transfer mentioned in the Penal Law, 133-136, in the chapter "Violations of the Regime and Society". The penalty established by law for this offense is up to five years in prison (section XNUMX of the law). And this is how this offense is defined in section XNUMX of the law:
For this sign, "to rebel" is one of these:
(1) bring about hatred, contempt or disloyalty to the state or its legally established governing or judicial authorities;
(2) to incite or provoke the inhabitants of the country to try to achieve, in non-kosher ways, the change of something that is based on the law;
(3) to arouse reluctance or displeasure among the inhabitants of the land;
(4) to provoke hatred and enmity between different parts of the population.
I propose to change the fixed punishments for those convicted of sedition: 1. 10 years in prison, and if he did so while committing violence that resulted in injury under aggravating circumstances (body or property) 20 years in prison, and if he deprived a person of life, life in prison.
In addition to the criminal penalties, administrative penalties will also be cumulatively added: 1. His citizenship in the country will be revoked, as a result of which the driver's license and any other license held by that person and the state granted him (lawyer/accountant/broker) will be revoked if a shareholder in the corporation sanctions will be imposed to seize his shares in the corporation in favor of The State Treasury, in addition to this, the National Insurance premiums for him and his family in the first degree will be stopped, all his pension rights will be foreclosed in favor of the state against the expenses that the state spent to pay the victims
In my opinion, there is one responsible and he is Bibi.
He debased and weakened the state and government systems in recent years and we see the result now when the systems have to function and function out of weakness, without leaders and understaffed...
Only Bibi is guilty!
change the law The addition of 10 years imprisonment for those who committed vandalism and damage to property. oblige him to compensate with money the value of the property. This could be an excellent deterrent and stop damage to people's property.
And what about property tax insurance for property damage caused by hostilities or actions on a nationalistic basis?