opas Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 I was always under the impression that it was obligatory in France to have house insurance. Our neighbour is having a few problems with her `studio` roof, I use the term loosely as it was origionaly a garage and she has turned the upper part into a flat which she rents out to a young couple, they are giving her a bit of greif because of leaks. Our roof terrace is about 8 ft higher than this roof and she insists that our finishing/edging bricks are causing the problem with dripping, don`t think she has taken into account her mature trees that overhang....but one digresses, today we returned home to find a man on her roof doing repairs on her property and `filling cracks` down OUR wall,when questioning our neighbour about him doing`repairs ` to our white walls with red sealant , which Mr O questioned her as to who will be painting it as we hadn`t requested the work and discussing insurance, our neighbour says she doesn`t have any. Have I dreamt this or is House insurance obligatory? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 I don't know whether it is obligitory or not if one owns one's home. I know that when my son started renting that he had to show an attestation from the insurers. I have just deleted a lot that I have written about this. Take photos now. I just cannot believe the stupidity/ arrogance of some people, how dare they do anything to your property without permission. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mpprh Posted December 31, 2004 Share Posted December 31, 2004 HiAs owners I don't think it is compulsory. Certainly when we had floods in 2002 many local people appeared to be uninsured.My notaire only "strongly recommended" taking insurance before the completion date.As a tenant it is part of the lease to take out insurance. Obviously it is desirable for all because it includes 3rd party risks (tile falls off roof and kills someone, injury to artisans etc.).For 1 property I have a landlords insurance. This includes 3rd party risks and pretty well "bricks & mortar". The lease dictates who is responsible for what. My tenants have insurance which covers their risks : 3rd party, contents, consequential loss (fire, flooding downstairs, etc.). Most people also have a family insurance covering children at school, etc Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Dear All,I would like to add that I so far agree with all that has been said. But even though insurance is not 'Obligatory' providing you own outright the property.No 3rd party having any share in it. THEN you if it burns down to the ground its your loss and no one elses. The problem comes with the French laws about 3rd party risks.It does seem to be an insurance culture, where you sue everyone for any damage to anything. Although its not like USA where you sue for stupid sums and even dafter reasons. The French will sue your kids if they tear another childs coat in the school playground...The point: If you dont have at least 3rd party insurance you are open to being bankrupted by the first person that steps onto your land and falls over a loose slab, step, stair or anything else...You dont have to either takinsurance, buts thats not as serious.Also re your neighbour; I would follow advice and take photos, take copious notes and so on. If the workman falls off the roof he may sue your insurers as he was working on your wall!CYA its called.Good luck with it anyway,Jeremy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 We are due to sign for our house sometime mid March and have been told that no insurance, no keys. We have got to have insurance before we can sign. The part about insurance on a rented property is correct. We will have to find out if we can get a rebate on the part of the year we will not be using when we move out of rented and into our new house.Roll on mid March!!!John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 http://www.ffsa.fr/gives more details of French insurance.It is not obligatory to insure your property although I imagine insurance is necessary if you have a loan secured on the property and wouldn't want to be without buildings insurance myself, or "civil responsibility". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonzjob Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Hi Puccette,No loans of any kind, just an insistance from the notair. Also we wouldn't consider not having house insurance any more than car insurance or insurance for my radio controlled gliders. John."Who does not know the winter countryside, does not know the countryside and does not know the life." Drieu La Rochelle. (correct?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoverfrog Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 I too was under the impression it was a legal requirement to have insurance before you can sign the acte de vente. Can't remember where I read it but I'm pretty sure it's right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdknott Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 Most notaires ask for an Attestation of insurance on the signing of the Acte de Vente.It's always a surprise that insurance here is based on a calendar year, but beware that you have to cancel an insurance policy in writing with due notice. Just failing to renew it (as you might have done in UK) doesn't cancel it, and you will be relentlessly pursued for the payment of the premium even if you have arranged insurance cover elsewhere.John Knott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 It's always a surprise that insurance here is based on a calendar year,Can you clarify what you mean by Calendar year please ? Do you mean Jan-Dec or 12 months or ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 Bet you a pint of pride that he means Sept - Aug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miki Posted January 23, 2005 Share Posted January 23, 2005 Pucette,A pint of Pride........Mmmmm worth a gamble I guess, I'll say March to February then !The thing is, I have our insurance list on a board and every damned insurance starts on a different month and keeping up with it can be a nightmare. The laugh is, I have the dates (2 months in advance for the most part) of each one of when I can tell them to stuff their premiums but I never do, as the people at the office are so helpful, which isn't surprising really, as they make so many c o c k ups, that they have to be helpful to put it all right again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pucette<P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Pucette<FONT><P><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3><P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0cm 0cm 0pt">"Qui ne connaît pas la campagne lhiver, ne connaît pas la campagne et ne connaît pas Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Well I'll be jiggered, I thought I was on firm ground there... all my insurances expire 31 August and if I take one out part way through the year they don't run for a full calendar year but to 31 August and then they are incorporated in with the rest. They told me that it's always the way, that was for cars... it's the same for those of my neighbours that I've discussed it with, we're all with Groupama...Remains to be seen what the poster meant... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teamedup Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 Ours start on the 1st of January. I suppose each company is different. Ours used to be a right pain as the insurance vignettes for the cars used to have to go in on the 1st of Jan and the old one finished on 31st Dec. I was very happy to see that they have now given us 15 days grace, which gives us time to remember to swop now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazan Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 all my insurances expire 31 August and if I take one out part way through the year they don't run for a full calendar year but to 31 August and then they are incorporated in with the rest. .... we're all with Groupama...That's a Groupama thing. Most insurance policies just run for 365 days from the day you take them out. We have three policies from two different insurers and all end on different dates.Two are paid by direct debit but one, annoyingly, won't do that.One advantage of the French "tacit reconduction" system is that even if you forget to pay your premium you are still insured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave&Olive Posted January 24, 2005 Share Posted January 24, 2005 We have just last week well 17th jan to be exact signed the acte de-vente so asked this question "only fire insurance is required " was the reply from the notaire. Our estate agent aranged our insurance which he had paid for up front and we gave him the cash on the day, so i said this will run out in Aug then his reply "no it`s for 12 months". so up a ladder down a snake who knows it`s Fance Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owens88 Posted January 25, 2005 Share Posted January 25, 2005 If purchasing with a mortgage it is quite likley that the lender would want to see proof of insurance. Having said that, mine only asked once !John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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