My father is going back to live in the UK soon so I went to Groupama yesterday to alter his mutuelle to monthly payments as I thought it would be easier to cancel it when the date is confirmed for his move.
The woman said I had to pay for the whole year. I asked how I could cancel maybe in February and she shrugged her shoulders and said I don't know !!
I'd never heard of this before as we've had the same mutuelles for years.
It's a lot of money for someone in their 80's to pay especially when he won't get any benefit from it for 10 months. I didn't cancel it before because I didn't want to leave him without cover at his age and because we weren't sure if and when he was going.
Highway robbery springs to mind.
Does anyone have any experience of this or useful advice please.
I think you could in UK before we left. I certainly could and did here with AXA. I was restricted to 8,000kms p.a. (5,000 Mls) every year on renewal,I used to email my (mileage) to ins agency, I’d do the conversion to kms also for them. The car was also given a Certificate of Cessation with the (mileage)recorded as kms on their form! I made sure AXA was aware of the difference because it could easily have been misconstrued. You have to watch this fact on every garage document your given because French paperwork says kms when they are recording actual mileage!
Fortunately in my complete from new car file, I kept all relevant for service or replacement parts paperwork, which were only necessary here, docs from uk and here so yes had a proven record from new to finish I’d done only 62,000+ miles from new over the 15+yrs I had it.
It was a RHD Clio and I found servicing cheaper here in a Renault dealership garage, where they also always had parts in stock. So there’s more to keeping a UK bought car here than we may always think about! It certainly all saved my bacon when I had the accident, although only 3rd party insured, I’d forgotten to change to fully Comp. I’m Not now sure how or why happened but It took 18 mths also before everything went to court, perhaps other driver was also held partly responsible because he admitted in his statement he hadn’t seen me, when it could be proved he should have. You know I battled and banged on about that for months and it paid off with an offer of compensation from my insurers. My recorded mileage and proof of annual conversion rates certainly disproved and confirmed at same time that all paperwork including CTA docs, were wrongly recorded showing a greater number of kilometers than I’d ever done, because they were miles! Too confusing now to remember all exactly, it was 2 years ago but I’m sure you get the gist of it all.
Apparently this law now applies in the UK as well as in France. Not sure about the requirement to pay road tax for vehicles off road in the UK but isn't there a reduction for cars older than a certain date? You can insure a car for restricted annual mileage/kilometrage.
David, interesting. Is there any logic for this change? Do you also have to register and pay road dues for cars/vehicles off the road?
Thanks for clarifying that better than I did David 
happy Xmas!
Not strictly on topic but for car insurance you now need to insure all cars even if they are permanently or temporarily off the road being worked on or restored. Therefore if you have a barn full of old Bugattis better think about this!
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Vous pouvez résilier votre mutuelle sans attendre sa date anniversaire si votre situation change. A condition cependant que le changement ait une incidence sur le risque garanti. En clair, le risque assuré par le contrat doit être amplifié ou amoindri et le montant de vos primes ou cotisations doit être modifié.
Ce type de résiliation est possible dans les cas suivants : changement de domicile, de situation matrimoniale, de régime matrimonial, de profession, départ en retraite, cessation définitive d’activité professionnelle.
La résiliation doit être adressée à l’assureur par lettre recommandée, dans les 3 mois suivant la date de l’évènement. Elle prend effet un mois après sa réception par l’assureur." Moving and in this case to a different country would normally render the insurance invalid so proper notice needs to be given by recorded delivery of the date of moving. The whole thing has been made deliberately more complicated to ensure that the insurance companies get as much money as possible. Life used to be much more simple!
Why should a Mutuelle be different to any other form of Insurance/assurance? You don’t have to pay for what you won’t use/need surely!
Given law has changed regarding cancellation I.e. 1? month only now I think! Just write and cancel the Policy, stating why remember the majority of the population in France are French and dying terminates their policies! Your dad’s reason is a different rarer one than most. I assume you will also be writing to cancel his CV, so send a copy of that letter to the Mutuelle as well!
Oh and don’t forget to ask for remainder of his money back!
Also send CPAM and Mutuelle letters by the recorded delivery system where you will get a signed proof of delivery back! Even if you send send the card itself back once it’s cancelled it wouldn’t be valid in any relevant machine anyway!
Also, You can Phone the CPAM English helpline and ask for their advice first! Time and effort but worth it I would have thought! Were you ever a Girl Guide or Boy Scout!!! The greatest motto ever in life!
If the premiums are set up to be paid by prelevement, you cannot cancel it at your bank. In this instance, only Groupama can do that.
Closing the bank account with an outstanding prelevement agreement could open a legal can of worms, with the closee being liable for the premium, collection and legal fees. Who needs that at 80?
Yes. You may have to provide proof of another address though. Otherwise you have to give a minimum of 2 months notice of cancellation.
Does the same apply to other insurances eg habitation?
I'd like to say a thank you to all of you who've taken the trouble to reply with helpful suggestions, it's much appreciated.
Merry Christmas to you all.
Thank you so much Marie-Claire, that's very helpful and I'll sleep better tonight with the information you've given me and also the link.
The letter format will make the cancellation stress free, thank you for that.
I have to admit that my gut reaction is that that is quite a bad idea.
I think that Marie Claire's advice is good. The bank will not cancel if you ask unless you have power of attorney and it seems to be too late here to do that. So you Dad would have to cancel. I am a lot younger than your Dad and I have already made my sons Enduring Powers of Attorney in the UK over my UK affairs- something you and your Dad may well wish to consider. The alternative is having to get an appointment after an illness or any specific even- always much more difficult. Unforunately a lot of companies take advantage of old people because they know that they are soft targets.
You can cancel your mutuelle if your circumstances change. You need to send a registered letter to your mutuelle indicating the reason and one month later, they have to stop charging you. Have a look here, you will find the information your need as well as a few standard letters you can send them. http://mutuelle.dispofi.fr/resiliation-mutuelle
Good luck to your dad!
Thanks David, I've had that suggested by someone and told my dad but he's not keen to take the risk...... I do know however that he'll be even less keen to pay the premiums once he's gone back. He's 89 and doesn't always think clearly.
I'm unsure as to whether you can just cancel payments at the bank here as you can do in the UK.
I might ask my neighbour who is Italian, knows her stuff and is used to dealing with French bureaucracy, she puts the fear of God into whoever she calls :)
Maybe not legal but go to the bank and cancel the payments. Maybe close the bank account. The principle of insurance USED to be that you only insure a risk. If there is no risk, or possibility of a claim as he would be covered elsewhere and not eligible to claim, then it should just cease.
Thanks Chris, I'll definitely go back to Groupama when we have a firm date for him to leave because I can't entertain the idea that they can take months of premiums when he'll no longer be on the French health system, it goes against the grain.
and I'll ignore the Galllic shrug this time !!