Almuerzo de Negocios · Jose Luis Ravelo Cuesta

Que va a pasar con los seguros de vehículos por las inundaciones

·31 min·2 clips

Miguel Villamán explains how insurers have secretly added flood deductibles to vehicle policies after recent Dominican floods.

1. Almuerzo de Negocios covers the insurance implications of a major predawn flooding event in Santo Domingo that occurred in May 2026, in a segment sponsored by Seguros Universal. 2. Insurance expert Miguel Villamán — a returning guest with over 60 years of industry context via Seguros Universal — joins hosts Rafael and José Luis to analyze the event. 3. The episode's thesis is that annual high-severity flooding events are creating an unsustainable combination of risk for Dominican auto and property insurers. 4. INTEC recorded 400 milliliters of rainfall, far exceeding the COE forecast of 40 milliliters — a 10x prediction error confirmed on air by COE General Méndez. 5. General Méndez reportedly stated that despite three weather radars, precise rainfall quantities in specific locations cannot be predicted due to 'convective phenomena' — a claim the host disputes by citing Yankees Stadium 7:14 pm rain-stop precision forecasting. 6. Villamán explains the frequency-severity framework: auto insurance normally involves high frequency and low severity, while catastrophic events involve high severity but low frequency — flooding now combines both. 7. The 2022 flooding event (a Friday afternoon, 3 pm to 10 pm) caused RD$1.2 billion in insured losses, establishing the baseline for comparison. 8. The 2026 event was worse in one respect: it occurred predawn, meaning all vehicles were parked — in driveways, street parking, and underground lots — rather than being drivable to safety. 9. Villamán highlights a specific risk: modern high-technology vehicles in underground parking lots suffer complete electrical and computer system failures when flooded, frequently requiring total write-off declarations. 10. A key consumer warning is delivered: auto insurers modified vehicle policies in 2024-2025 to include flood deductibles and co-insurance clauses — meaning 'full comprehensive' (seguro full) policyholders may receive less than they expect. 11. The guest advises that policyholders must read their policy documents carefully and work with an insurance broker (corredor de seguro) to understand their actual flood coverage. 12. A specific exclusion is highlighted: vehicles driven into visibly flooded areas (marked by municipal warning signs) may have no flood coverage, as entering water knowingly voids the claim. 13. The discussion addresses human life losses: if a worker contributed to social security, surviving family receives a pension of 50% of the average salary from the last 36 months, split between spouse and children. 14. The case of a child killed by a falling wall is raised: student insurance policies, civil liability policies for the institution, and collective life insurance through employers may all apply. 15. A host argues that technology already exists for Amber Alert-style mobile notifications that could warn residents to move vehicles before flood peaks reach critical levels. 16. The argument is made that even imprecise advance warning (e.g., '200mm expected' rather than exact quantities) would enable enough protective action to reduce losses significantly. 17. Villamán endorses the idea and suggests that industry associations ADOCOSE and CADUAR should collaborate with Indomet to complement government forecasting. 18. The episode notes that a bill for an Amber Alert-style emergency notification system is reportedly in Congress, but in the meantime, the segment recommends practical measures like watching water accumulation outside. 19. The hosts and guest take a pragmatic, critical tone: they acknowledge the genuine difficulty of prediction while expressing frustration that 2026 technology has not solved a problem that recurs almost annually. 20. Dominican vehicle owners, insurance clients, and anyone living in flood-prone zones of Santo Domingo — particularly Arroyo Hondo, the polígono central, and areas near underground parking — will find the episode directly relevant.

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