Having finally [last week] made the definitive move to live permanently in France, we bought une voiture française [well, Czech actually, but never mind the technicalities], naturally I had to find some car insurance. After much research, opted for Direct Assurance, which as well as a competitive price, had what I thought was a comprehensible website. They asked if I had a bonus [i.e. No Claims Bonus] which I did - 50% - and I proceeded to answer the rest of the questions truthfully and fully. Got my online contract, sent them a whole sheaf of documents [why DO they need all this stuff?] and thought all was fine UNTIL...
I received a phone call from Direct today asking why my proof of previous insurance and no claims was in English. "Because it was an English insurance on an English car" I said. Well, in that case, the lady explained, I couldn't have a bonus because I'd never had a French car insurance before, so the price would double. I pointed out that at no point in the internet application process was this shown or explained; also, how does that fit with the concept of free trade and movement within the EU?
Anyway... has anyone else encountered this piece of blatantly unfair trading practice; and is there any way round it? I don't see why I should have to pay twice as much as a French person for exactly the same cover.
13 years to get the max 50% ncb ;-)
And a split second to loose!
Let me be boring here & quote from the EEC Directive 2009/103/EC:-
(28) Any person wishing to take out a new motor insurance
contract with another insurer should be in a position to
justify his accident and claims record under the old
contract. The policyholder should have the right to
request at any time a statement concerning the claims,
or the absence of claims, involving the vehicle or vehicles
covered by the insurance contract at least during the
preceding five years of the contractual relationship. The
insurance undertaking, or any body which may have
been appointed by a Member State to provide
compulsory insurance or to supply such statements,
should provide this statement to the policyholder
within 15 days of the request.
As an EU regulation this applies cross border, so if your agent stats playing games, tell 'em!
I think that 50% is the maximum no claims available in France & that can take 12 years to earn!
Yes as they expire every 10 years now. Still got seven to go on mine :-D
If you retain your photo card UK license you need to ensure that your photo is kept up to date as it is an offence to drive in the UK with an out of date license. There is a £1,000 fine if you are caught!
If you have a photo card UK license it is already a 'European' one. In theory you do not have to exchange your license. The exception is if you get done by the Gendarmes. In which case they can insist you get a French one so you can get points.
Quite right Tim, internet comparison sites are not much good here. You may pay a bit more by using an Insurance Agent [although he did give me a discount on my home insurance when I transferred it to Aviva] but at least they get the job done and you get personal service.
Ah yes. Despite English being part of the national curriculum from a very early age, no one can understand it...
Via the Interent wont' work, you are not in 'the system.' You will need to find a local agency (shop around for price and then find the local office by you and go in person.)
Anyway, I nearly got stuff sorted with a local MAAF and then got sick of the BS (piece of paper this, piece of paper that.)
In the end I had found Generali in Gers (www.insurance.fr) They may not be the dirt cheapest, but they have ways of transfering your no claims from the UK and did it all via email and post.
Hi Chris,
After reading all the other replies, I wanted to add Aviva, and now see you have found them :-)
Our experiences here with our near local Aviva agent, is so much more pleasant then dealing with quotes and sales in Ireland, it's like we have customer service again. It's so nice to walk into the office, sit down and have everything explained, and told nothing is a problem. Unlike our phone experiences in Ireland, where a quote takes 20 minutes of answering questions, questions, questions.
We insured our Irish car recently, even before it had its french plates, as it takes a few weeks to organise the bits of paper, CT etc. They happily provided temp cover while we sorted out the carte grise.
A very pleasant experience, and the house insurance is with them too
We had no problem at all with Allianz despite my previous being UK and my OH's being Swiss insurances. We both got the full bonus available here without any fuss.
Thanks, Jane. In fact, my local [non-English-speaking] Aviva agent has been most helpful so I'll go with them to start. It's a good deal, especially with breakdown cover included and they accept my UK NCD in full.
We intend to trade our UK driving licences in for European ones.
You're English no claims discount should be accepted for 3 years after you arrive in France permanently. Credit Agricole (Normandy) and Alliance follow this standard rule. Both offer an English speaking service although your policy will of course be in French, but they will explain anything you are not sure off. You can also change over to a French Driving licence without much fuss as well (which does not expire) unlike the UK one. Hope this helps. There should be a cooling off period so you may want to check this out to see if you can cancel your policy. Good luck
ironically, our own experience has been opposite. Our french insurance on our french cars has always been with Mutuelle De Poitiers, a local firm, and they accepted our UK no claims without question, giving us the cheapest insurance we've ever had and including recovery and windscreen replacement.
When we bought another UK van a couple of years ago, we wern't allowed to use our french no-claims with any of the dozens of companies we filled in forms for, it was SO frustrating....I can only conclude it all depends on the company and recommend you dont give up trying.
Update: my local Aviva agent has come up trumps. Quite happy to accept no claims confirmation from my previous UK insurers [who by phone said they will happily do the necessary]. Aviva not the cheapest but fairly competitive,and their European breakdown cover added in is brilliant value.
Now, all I have to do is to get my money back from those lying scumbags [sorry, James Higginson, but that is an accurate description, not an insult] at Direct Assurance.
Time for a swim...
To right Chris a couple of hours on the phone could save you a few hundred € and peace of mind there are lots of English speaking insurance agents out there where nothing can get confused in translation
Thank you top everyone! I have clearly struck a raw nerve. I will certainly cancel my Direct Assurance cover... but only when I've got a good alternative. I can't trust Direct any more - even if they back down and offer me something. Obviously I can't use all your very interesting suggestions, but I'll let you know how I get on.
When we first bought our French reg. car we went to Ada and they happily accepted our uk no claims,which again was in English we now use credit Agricola Britline as they ended up a lot cheaper
My advice is try Swisslife - I find they are brilliant and changed to them this year from rip-off Groupama!
Agree used Nick. And he was excellent and sorted out the NCB issue no problem.