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Car insurance in France

Which insurances do you need for your car?

As in most other countries, car insurance is essential in France and driving without it is a serious offence, for which you can be fined up to € 7,500 and imprisoned for up to six months. All imported motor vehicles plus trailers and semi-trailers must also be insured.

If you arrive in France with a vehicle without valid insurance, you can buy a temporary policy valid for 8, 15 or 30 days from the vehicle insurance department of the French customs office at your point of entry.

However, motorists insured in an EU country or Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland are automatically covered for third-party liability in France. The following categories of car insurance are available in France:

Third Party ( responsabilité civile, minimale, tiers illimitée and au tiers) – the minimum required by law in France and includes unlimited medical costs and damage to third-party property.

Third Party, Fire & Theft (TPF&T; tiers personnes/restreinte/intermédiaire/vol et incendie), known in some countries as part comprehensive – includes cover against fire, natural hazards (e.g. falling rocks), theft and legal expenses ( défense-recours). TPF&T includes damage to (or theft of) contents and radio.

Multi-risk Collision ( multirisque collision) – covers all risks listed under TPF&T (see above) plus damage caused to your own vehicle in the event of a collision with a person, vehicle, or animal belonging to an ‘identifiable person’ .

Comprehensive ( multirisque tous accidents/tous risques) – covers all the risks listed under TPF&T and multi-risk collision (see above) and includes damage to your vehicle however caused and whether a third party can be identified or not. Note, however, that illegally parked cars automatically lose their comprehensive cover. Comprehensive insurance is usually compulsory for lease and credit-purchase contracts.

Glass breakage ( bris de glace) is often included in TPF&T comprehensive insurance, but you should check, as there may be an additional premium. Driver protection ( protection du conducteur/assurance conducteur) is usually optional. It enables the driver of a vehicle involved in an accident to claim for bodily injury to himself, including compensation for his incapacity to work or for his beneficiaries should he be killed. However, if you have an accident while breaking the law, e.g. drunken driving or illegal parking, your comprehensive insurance may be automatically downgraded to third party only – or nullified altogether.

This means that you must pay for your own repairs and medical expenses, which can be very expensive. Additional insurance can be purchased for contents and accessories such as an expensive car stereo. High-value cars (e.g. worth over €20,000) must usually have an approved alarm installed and/or the registration number engraved on all windows in order to be insured against theft.

Trailer owners should note that these are normally insured only when attached to your car and damaged in an accident; to insure them for theft, whether attached to your car or not, you must register them in their own right as if they were a caravan or another vehicle. You should also check whether your insurance policy covers items stolen from your car. When motoring in France (or anywhere else), don’t assume that your valuables are safe in the boot of your car, particularly if the boot can be opened from the inside.

If your car is insured in your name, your children may use it ‘occasionally’, but whether you need to tell your insurer and pay a higher premium depends on two factors. Insurers distinguish between ‘habitual’ and ‘occasional’ drivers ( conducteur habituel/occasionel) – and also, in most cases, between men and women. If your daughter, who is an inexperienced driver, wants to be an occasional driver of your car, most companies will allow this free of charge.

For a male driver, however, virtually all companies impose a surcharge, called a ‘repurchase of excess’ ( un rachat de franchise) or a ‘new driver excess’ ( une franchise jeune conducteur), costing from around €150. If you allow your son to drive your car without informing your insurer and he causes an accident, you could face a penalty of up to €500.

If he is found to be the main user of the car, your insurance policy could be rendered invalid. Once your son has been driving for two or three years (depending on the insurer), you may not have to pay a surcharge for occasional use. When he finally takes out his own insurance, however, he will be regarded as a new driver and will normally pay a ‘novice surcharge’ ( surprime conducteurs novices) – which also applies to women.

Green Card

Although all motorists insured in an EU country or Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland are automatically covered for third-party liability in France, British motorists should note that British insurance companies usually insist on your applying for a certificate of motor insurance (commonly known as a ‘green card’) if you’re driving to France (or any other European country). Most companies will issue a green card for a maximum of 90 days per year. (This is because British insurers know that you’re far more likely to have an accident when driving on the right!)

Nevertheless, you should shop around, as some companies allow drivers a green card for up to six months a year (e.g. Liverpool Victoria, 0800-015 4752) or even for an unlimited time (e.g. Saga, 0800-015 4752 – for the over-50s only). Another way round the restriction is to return to the UK for at least 24 hours after 90 days and obtain another green card! If you’re British and have fully comprehensive insurance, a green card is essential, as it extends your comprehensive insurance abroad. There’s usually no charge for a green card for a short period abroad (e.g. up to 5 days) but thereafter there may be a small charge (e.g. around £1 per day).

If you drive a British-registered car and spend a period longer than the validity of a green card on the continent, you may need to take out a special (i.e. expensive) European insurance policy or obtain insurance with a European company. If you wish to import a foreign-registered car into France permanently, you may find that your (foreign) insurance company will refuse to insure it or will do so only for a short period, although since 1st January 1993, EU residents can theoretically insure their cars in any EU country, so you may have no option but to buy a new car in France.

All French insurance companies provide an automatic green card ( carte internationale d’assurance automobile/carte verte – even though it’s yellow in France!), extending your normal insurance cover to most other European countries.

Contracts

You will initially be given a provisional insurance contract ( police d’assurance provisoire) by your insurer or broker and will receive a definitive contract ( police définitive) a few weeks later. With the contract is a green tear-off tab ( vignette), which you must display in the windscreen of your vehicle as confirmation of insurance ( attestation d’assurance). A special holder is usually provided. Each tab is valid for a limited period (e.g. six months) and you will be sent a replacement automatically (provided you’ve paid your premiums!).

Non-display of the tab, even if it has fallen off the windscreen and is in the car, can result in a fine of around €150. It’s possible to insure a vehicle for less than a year (e.g. three months) and you can also insure a vehicle for a single journey over 1,000km (620mi).

Premiums

Insurance premiums are high in France – a reflection of the high accident rate, the large number of stolen and vandalised cars, and the high taxes (around 35 per cent) levied on car insurance. Premiums vary considerably according to numerous factors, including the type of insurance and car, your age and accident record and where you live. For example, premiums are highest in Paris and other cities and lowest in rural areas; they’re lower for cars over three years old; drivers with less than three years’ experience usually pay a ‘penalty’ and drivers under 25 pay higher premiums.

However, the maximum penalty for young drivers is 100 per cent or double the normal premium. A surcharge is usually made when a car isn’t garaged overnight. Some premiums are based on the number of kilometres ( kilomètrage) driven each year. Always shop around and obtain a number of quotations but beware of companies making ‘special offers’ of low premiums, as your policy may be cancelled if you make a claim!

You can reduce your premium by choosing to pay a higher excess ( franchise), e.g. the first €300 to €750 of a claim instead of the usual €125 to €250. If you’re convicted of drunken or dangerous driving, your premium will be increased considerably, e.g. by up to 150 per cent. Value added tax ( TVA) at 19.6 per cent is payable on insurance premiums.

No-claims Bonus

A foreign no-claims bonus is usually valid in France, but you must provide written evidence from your present or previous insurance company, not just an insurance renewal notice. You may also need an official translation. Always insist on having your no-claims bonus recognised, even if you don’t receive the same reduction as you received abroad (shop around!). If you haven’t held car insurance for two years, you’re usually no longer entitled to a no-claims bonus in France.

A French no-claims bonus isn’t as generous as those in some other countries and is usually 5 per cent for each year’s accident-free driving up to a maximum of 50 per cent after ten years. If you have an accident for which you’re responsible, you’re usually required to pay a penalty ( malus) or your bonus ( bonus) is reduced. Your premium will be increased by 25 per cent each time you’re responsible for an accident or 12.5 per cent if you’re partly to blame, up to a maximum premium three-and-a-half times the standard premium. If you’re judged to be less than 30 per cent responsible, you won’t usually lose your no-claims bonus.

However, if you’ve had the maximum bonus for three years, one accident won’t reduce it even if you were at fault. All penalties are cancelled if you have no accidents for two years. There’s no premium increase if your car is damaged while legally parked (although you must be able to prove it and identify the party responsible) or as a result of fire or theft, and you should still receive your bonus for the current year. The same normally applies to glass breakage.

Claims

Claims are decided on the information provided in accident report forms ( constat amiable d’accident de voiture/constat européen d’accident) completed by drivers, as well as in reports by insurance company experts and police reports. You must notify your insurance company of a claim resulting from an accident within a limited period, e.g. two to five days. After reporting your car stolen, 30 days must elapse before an insurance company will consider a claim. It often takes a long time – even years! – to resolve claims in France.

If your car is damaged in an accident, you may take it to any reputable repairer ( carrosserie), where the damage must usually be inspected and the repair sanctioned by your insurance company’s assessor ( expert), although sometimes an independent assessment may be permitted.

Assessors normally visit different repairers on different days of the week, so you should arrange to take your car on the relevant day. (Some assessors have a weekly ‘clinic’ at their office where you can have damage inspected.) You should tell your insurer at least a day in advance so that he can advise the assessor. You may then be able to leave the car with the repairer or you may have to return it another day for the repair to be carried out. For minor repairs, an inspection may be unnecessary.

Cancellation

French insurance companies are forbidden by law to cancel third-party cover after a claim, except in the case of drunken driving or when a driver is subsequently disqualified from driving for longer than a month. A company can, however, refuse to renew your policy at the end of the current contract period, although they must give you two months’ notice. If you find it difficult to obtain cover, the Bureau Central de Tarification can demand that the company of your choice provide you with cover, the premium being fixed by the Bureau.

Like other French insurance policies, a car insurance policy is automatically renewed annually unless you cancel it ( résilier) in writing, and you must do so at least two months before the end of your annual insurance period, although the notice period is sometimes only a month and in a few cases three months, so you should check. You may cancel your insurance without notice if the premium is increased by more than the official index ( indice), based on the Index of Construction Costs published by INSEE, the terms are altered, or your car has been declared a write-off or stolen.

Policies can also be cancelled without notice for certain personal reasons, such as moving house, a change of job, divorce and retirement. Standard cancellation letters ( lettre type de résiliation) are usually provided by insurance companies and brokers.

Breakdown Insurance in France

Breakdown insurance ( assurance dépannage) is provided by car insurance companies and motoring organisations. If you’re motoring abroad or you live abroad and are motoring in France, it’s important to have breakdown insurance (which may include limited holiday and travel insurance), including repatriation for your family and your car in the event of an accident or breakdown. Most foreign breakdown companies provide multi-lingual, 24-hour centres where assistance is available for motoring, medical, legal and travel problems.

Some organisations also provide economical annual motoring policies for those who frequently travel abroad, e.g. owners of holiday homes in France. If your car is registered outside France, you may be unable to obtain breakdown insurance from a French insurance company.

French insurance companies provide an optional accident and breakdown service ( contrat d’assistance) for policyholders for around €30 per year. This is adopted by some 90 per cent of French motorists. The breakdown service usually covers the policyholder, his spouse, single dependent children, and parents and grandparents living under the same roof.

The 24-hour telephone number of the breakdown service’s head office is shown on the insurance tab affixed to your windscreen. If you break down anywhere in France, you simply call the emergency number and give your location, and a recovery vehicle is sent to your aid.

Although accidents are covered anywhere in France, in the event of a breakdown you need to be at least a certain distance from your home, e.g. 25 or 50km (15 to 30mi). The service provides for towing your vehicle to the nearest garage and contributes towards the expenses incurred as a result of a breakdown or an accident, e.g. alternative transport and hotel bills.

If your car is unusable for more than 48 hours in France and over five days abroad, your insurance company will usually pay for alternative transport home, e.g. first-class rail travel or car hire in France or tourist-class air travel abroad. The retrieval of your vehicle is also guaranteed from within France or abroad. Such policies may include cover for personal accident, injury and illness even when you aren’t using your car, although they aren’t adequate as holiday and travel insurance.