18. Obligations in case of loss
- The policyholder or the insured must, in addition, provide the insurer with all sorts of information about the circumstances and consequences of the loss. In case of breach of this obligation, the right to the indemnity shall only be lost should there have existed gross negligence or wilful misconduct.
Should there exist various insurers, this communication must be made to each of them, indicating the names of the others.
- The insured may not totally or partially abandon the insured objects, which remain in his care and at his own risk, and he shall take care of any that are left after the accident, whether intact or deteriorated, as well as the wreckage, packaging, boxes or cases, taking care not to cause any new disappearances or flaws, the cost of which, in this case, shall be borne by the insured.
Moreover, the policyholder or the insured is obliged to conserve the wreckage and remains of the loss until the valuation of the damage has concluded, except in the case of justified material impossibility. This obligation shall not, under any circumstance, give rise to a special indemnity.
- The insured must afford the insurer access to the properties on which the loss occurred, in order to take as many measures as are reasonably necessary to lessen the consequences of it.
- Breach of this article's obligation to salvage shall entitle the insurer to reduce its benefits, in accordance with the significance of the damages derived from said breach and the degree of fault on the part of the policyholder or insured. If this breach occurs with the manifest intention of harming or misleading the insurer, the latter shall be released from its obligation to provide all benefits derived from the loss.
- The expenses incurred due to compliance with this obligation, provided they are not inappropriate or disproportionate to the salvaged property, shall be borne by the insurer, even when said expenses have not had effective or positive results.
- It is the insured's responsibility to prove the pre-existence of the objects. Nevertheless, the contents in the policy shall constitute a presumption in favour of the insured when he or she cannot reasonably provide more efficient proof.
19. Appointment of loss adjusters