House Insurance

[Rose]

Dear all... another question for you all! 

 

Can you recommend a French house contents and buildings insurance policy/insurer?  Whilst your at it... car insurance/insurer?  Recommendations would be great but general advice of do’s and don’ts just as welcome!

 

Thanks! [:)]

[cooperlola]

You could do worse than chatting to Nick Chubb here

http://www.asttral.com/site-us/presentation.asp

My own feeling, though is that you need a recommendation from somebody who has had to make a claim - that's when you really find out about insurance companies!

[Morse98]

Cooprlola,

That is a excellent point! as you never really know what an insurance company is like until you have to make a claim.

[Rose]

Thanks for the advice... I guess my next question would be anyone out there that has made a claim and happy with the service/outcome?! [:)]

[Captain Trips]

Is it difficult to change insurers? I have heard you need to give  3 months notice, is this true or as in the UK at renewal time seek quotes and go with your favoured one?

[Gemini_man]

[quote user="pale pink specs"]Thanks for the advice... I guess my next question would be anyone out there that has made a claim and happy with the service/outcome?! [:)][/quote]

Hi PPS,

I can suggest a national French insurance company NOT to insure with in my opinion if you like, based on recent experience and an ongoing situation.

I fully intend to start a thread here about my experience, as soon as I have the time, to see if anyone has any advice as to what I can do next but it's quite involved and right now I'm too busy.

All I will say here is that I'm talking about a general assurance company that sounds slightly Italian but I would be happy to tell you more by PM if you wish.

[Sunshine]

So sorry I can not recommend an insurer as yet I have been lucky not to have to claim.

However, do not be fooled by the French system were they say its cheaper if you put all your insurance with one company.  This was not the case for us, having a financial services background, I read the small print and asked for their terms and conditions, some were not too happy about this.  One major company had special offers, such as 1-4 months free. 

I had quotes from a number of insurers, as well as recommendations from the this forum and friends.  I also showed qoutes from other companies to see if they could match or better them.  These companys were happy to show me why their quote and policy was better than the others and compared them in front of me.  This is great if you are baffled by what they are really offering!.  Again this helped us, as they did all the work for me, and highlighted things I may have missed.

We are all individuals and varying age groups, some companys want to insurer 'safer or perhaps older' clients so these quotes will be cheaper than others.  They are as picky as we are and have a preference, hence the price and type of cover.

Remember the French outlook to life is different from the UK, (thats why my husband and I are here) so is their take on insurance and assurance, it is different.  Do the research, be honest and ask those awkward questions - Never assume anything.  

Good luck with your insurance hunting.

 

[Mark]

Google 'Assurland'.  It's a website which searches for the best deal from lots and lots of French insurance companies.  Quick and convenient.  Even if you don't actually get your insurance via the site, you could print off the quotes it finds and show it to the companies you go to in person in an effort to get them to match the quotes.

[Rose]

Thanks Mark... we'll give it a go!  Searching for the various cover options is certainly helping our French! [8-)]

[pip24]

Hi   PPS I can not make a recomendation on an insurance company but may be able to help you decide by considering a few points ov view. The options seem to be  - Obtain on the internet or phone. In the U.K I use this option myself. In France I would not use this option, trying to sort problems and situations out over the phone seem to go on for ever. People promise to phone you back but never do. Also there is the language problem, listening or speaking on the phone without visual contact can be difficult.Then comes the option of using an insurer that is partnered to a bank. If you have any problems with the insurer then the bank would be obliged to help - or maybe loose your account ! . Next comes the option of your local village insurer/agent./ . These seem to be of long standing ocupancy in villages, so I can only assume that the inhabitants are satisfied customers, otherwise they would have taken there accounts elsewhere and the insurer would not be in business any more. I have chosen to do the later option. For the reason that an agent at the end of the road is more likely to give you a better service than some one at the end of a phone. After all he has a reputation to protect. I also keeps the work in the village. The added bonus is that it is next to the local bar !   There you are PPS food for thought, hope it is of help

 

CaptainTrip  asks if it is easy to change insurers.     As it happens I am in the process of this at the moment. The following is what the process for me has been so far.

1, In May we contacted local insurer, he came and checked the number of rooms,contents,size, security,outbuildings etc and asked us to go to his office later in the day to sign some documents and receive provisional policy.

2, We then went back to the U.K,  We received a letter from the new insurer asking for the Quittance from the old insurer.   --We sent it

3,We recieved a letter from the old insurer asking "what was the problem? what had they done wrong and on what grounds did we have to change the insurance" ? --we replied.

4,We recieved triplicate document from the old insurer which are best described as divorce papers, to sign  two and return and keep one.

5, We received a letter from new insurer to say that new insurance had taken over and would we call in the office to sign and collect a document next time that we are there.(next week)

I did a previous post on this issue in another section. Points that came up were. "Read the small print of the document that you were sent you may be charged a cancellation fee. So far I have not. Also someone said that they need 3 months notice. If this is correct I can see a problem here, because my old insurance issued the renewal notice only twelve days before the renewal was due. If  I thought that the new premium was excessive and I found a cheaper one I would not be able to move. There seems to be a conflict here, hands tied etc.

On a search I found little on insurance, maybe France Magazine /Living France  could do a feature on aspects of insurance ? 

 

 

[Will]

[quote user="Sunshine"]

..However, do not be fooled by the French system were they say its cheaper if you put all your insurance with one company.  

[/quote]

I don't think this necessarily saves money - though we do get a useful discount from our local agent, probably for putting a lot of business his way, so we tend to stick with him for French insurance needs. Even so it is worth talking from time to time about moving custom elsewhere, just to keep them on their toes.

Where you do score is in service, particularly in the event of a claim. You are worth a lot to the agent in commission, so he wants to keep you sweet, and you will be handled rather more sympathetically than other customers who might have just one low value policy with him.

I agree totally about the different attitudes to insurance. The local agent is still a big part of French insurance - far fewer people go direct, over the phone or internet, in France, though things are certainly changing.

I strongly believe that insurance is one area where cheapest is not necessarily the best. You need something where you have confidence that you will be paid when the need arises, and that fulfils your own needs.

The easiest way to change insurers in France is to let the new insurer handle cancellation of the old policies on your behalf. You have to think about this in plenty of time though - ideally at least three months before the contract expires.

 

[Captain Trips]

Thanks Pip24 for your comprehensive reply. It sounds easier just to stay with my existing insurer!!

[Rose]

Thanks you all for the replies... this has been very useful... OH is now researching and investigating!  You are such a clever lot...

Thanks! [:D]

[Chancer]

My advice which was drummed into me by locals was to avoid getting insrance through the banks as they just in turn have to do everything over the phone with the remote insurance company.

To be fair so does a broker but at least he has experience and carries some clout and/or is trusted and respected by the insurance companies.

My experience with bank staff  is that they often are not competent to carry out basic banking business let alone act as my insurance agent, the competent ones sadly get moved on very quickly.

The big problem with shopping around for quotes is that despite the loi chatel insurers never tell you 2 months in advance what your renewal premium will be, mine sat on the renewal quote and only sent it to me one week after the renewal date, luckily in these circumstances if they have not respected the requiremnts of the Loi chatel then you have the right to cancel without giving 3 months notice, but you try doing that!

[cooperlola]

Why do I think that the  3 months' notice rule had been changed?  Did I read this somewhere, or am I imagining it?

I changed insurers last year after my previous insurers persisted in sending all the paperwork to my UK address - a house we had sold 2 years before!  I took out the new policy and told the previous lot to "get stuffed".  As they had sent the papers to the wrong place, they just accepted it - after a little less-than-polite correspondence from me - and sent me the "divorce" documents to sign.

[oakbri]

My experience with insurance in France can only be described as legalized racketeering. I insured my wifes car with one of the largest insurance companies. Around 2 months before the renewal was due the cam belt broke, destroying the engine. As the car was not worth repairing I just pushed it into my garage until I had time to scrap it. When the renewal came through I ignored it as I wasn't going to insure a car without an engine. The nasty letters then started arriving. I went to the broker and expalined. They informed me that a little thing like not having an engine, and the car being parked off road in my locked private garage does not mean I can get out of being insured as if a burglar broke in and injured himself on the car I would have no cover (I am not joking)

As we were leaving France the next day and not returning for 6 months I had to pay. He did reduce the quote as the car was not road worthy, but I had to pay nonetheless.

My understanding is once you are insured with a company the insurance is automatically renewed unless you either move house, sell the car or give 3 months notice. Its not like the UK where once you get near to renewal time you can shop around for the best deal.

[Athene]

I have had a claim on my French house insurance  as we had a burst pipe upstairs and the resulting flood did a lot of damage. We are insured with a local agent who acts for only one a big European insurance company. After the assessor had come round with our agent, they paid out quickly and without any fuss!  I am sending you the name of the company by private post. Initially the agent came round and went through the house to see how much it should be insured for and gave us advice as to what security top ups we needed - eg more bolts on doors and windows. Now I would not dream of insuring elsewhere as I feel we were treated so well! I think it may cost a little more than the cut price internet 'jobbies', I do not know, I haven't looked, but we have peace of mind and that counts for a lot!

And yes it was always three months to cancel.

[Rose]

Dear all... just a note to say thanks for all the good advice.  OH has had a local agent recommended and he is currently talking/emailing him to make arrangements... we'll certainly be sure not to cut corners!  18 days to go!!! [8-)]

[Clair]

[quote user="oakbri"]My understanding is once you are insured with a company the insurance is automatically renewed unless you either move house, sell the car or give 3 months notice. Its not like the UK where once you get near to renewal time you can shop around for the best deal.[/quote]

By law (Loi Chatel), your insurer must contact you three months at the earliest and one month at the latest before your contract expires to allow you to cancel the automatic renewal.

You chose to ignore your insurer's letters. As a result, the contract was automatically and tacitally renewed.

[Athene]

Jo, I can't reply to your email as my replies are bounced back.

[Vlad]

All

A really useful thread.

Has anybody any experience of using UK insurance policies for French holiday homes being used for family and friends and occasional short-term lets?

I've been looking at them and they seem much more what a Brit would expect but I don't know how they compare cost-wise with French domestic policies.

Does anybody have anything to offer on this?

Thanks