klg2501 Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 We have just experienced an interesting situation relating to car insurance. Because our original insurance with AGF was in my opinion far too expensive (despite 2 years no claims here and before that 6 years in UK) I did some on-line research towards the end of the contract, and decided on far cheaper cover offered by a broker. At that point, I advised AGF that I wished to cancel their contract, only to find that they refused to do so, because I had not given the required 3 months notice! On top of that, they initially refused to issue the "relevé d'informations". After many e-mails they finally relented, cancelled the policy and issued the confirmation of no claims. While I had certainly not informed them formally by "lettre recommandé", I had fortunately, in the course of earlier correspondence on other issues, basically said " I've had enough of you lot and will be looking around!" And I was able to remind them that they had effectively acknowledged receipt by responding to these other matters. A lucky escape, I think.However, this does seem a ludicrous situation - how could I be sure 3 months in advance of my intentions and future circumstances. Is this a general condition of French insurance policies and does anyone have similar experience or advice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 It's not 3 months !Check out this thread and read up on 'Loi Chatel'http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1438769/ShowPost.aspxI believe also that if you wish to change you can at any time accept a quote from another company and when the time comes they will liase with the old company leaving you nothing to do but pay.I don't know if this is operated universally and it would be interesting to hear from anybody who may have changed insurers by this method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunday Driver Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 [quote user="klg2501"] However, this does seem a ludicrous situation - how could I be sure 3 months in advance of my intentions and future circumstances. Is this a general condition of French insurance policies and does anyone have similar experience or advice? [/quote]Very few people can be sure of their intentions three months in advance, and in most cases, the contract deadline would have passed unnoticed by the time someone decided to shop around for an alternative policy. As insurance contracts are deemed to be automatically renewable, this clearly presented an unfair situation for existing customers.That's why the Loi Chatel was introduced, effectively overriding this contract condition and putting the onus on the insurer to notify/remind clients of their cancellation rights as part of the renewal notification process and allow them a twenty day 'window' in which to shop around for other quotes and if necessary, cancel their policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancer Posted March 28, 2009 Share Posted March 28, 2009 [quote user="Sunday Driver"][quote user="klg2501"] [/quote]That's why the Loi Chatel was introduced, effectively overriding this contract condition and putting the onus on the insurer to notify/remind clients of their cancellation rights as part of the renewal notification process and allow them a twenty day 'window' in which to shop around for other quotes and if necessary, cancel their policy.[/quote]Sadly a lot of insurers are not frightened of the consequences of ignoring the word "onus" 3 months after saying "up yours AXA" in accordance with Chatel I still regularly receive lettres recomandée from both the agent and AXA Paris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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