Breil-sur-Roya has secured a court-appointed expert in its ongoing legal fight with former insurer SMACL, nearly six years after Storm Alex devastated the Roya valley, mayor Sébastien Olharan said Wednesday.
Olharan, appearing on ICI Côte d'Azur's Bonjour La Côte d'Azur programme, said the commune remains owed around 4 million euros of the 10 million euros in compensation originally due, after SMACL refused to recognise one of two official natural disaster declarations covering land movement damage from the October 2020 storm, despite both having been issued by the préfecture. SMACL further declined to renew the commune's public buildings insurance from January 2025, a decision the administrative court upheld in a December ruling, leaving Breil-sur-Roya to seek coverage from foreign insurers through brokers after receiving no domestic bids.
The newly appointed judicial expert is expected to help resolve the remaining dispute over the land movement compensation, a case Olharan has pursued through the courts after direct negotiations with the insurer failed to produce a resolution.