My car insurance renewal notice seems to arrive later and later. Last year by the time I received it in December (a very busy time at work) I just didn’t have time to line up some decent alternative quotes by the expiry date on 1 Jan. So I simply auto-renewed out of the usual mixture of exhaustion/inertia.
I did manage to get a quote from Axa but couldn’t have acted on even if I’d wanted to because they needed a relevé d’information and a phone call to my existing insurer the Crédit Mutuel failed to produce one. They simply never acted on my request.
I was too busy with other things but I did at least take the time after Christmas to create an online Crédit Mutuel account so that in future I could make a written request for a relevé d’information through my espace particulier.
So am better prepared this winter and thinking I’ll get a couple of quotes next month.
Do you have a car insurer you particularly like and would recommend to others?
It’s so long since I changed car insurer that when the Axa lady asked for the relevé d’information last December I had never heard of it.
Changing is entirely possible but you need to be well prepared. I suspect they know people are busy around Christmas and don’t think to get their relevé well in advance.
I won’t be going back to the Axa lady. She had mastered the art of upselling and I left her office a nervous wreck, horrified to learn that I now needed insurance against drones hovering outside our apartment window and hoovering up personal data displayed on our iPad screen.
I used to be with Axa but thought they became expensive. After that I used Toyota’s own insurance which was OK.
When I changed cars this year I did a comparison using Les Furets and ended up with Direct Assurance, via their website and on the phone. They were good to deal with.
I wanted an insurance company that seemed financially solid and it turned out they’re part of Axa.
Thanks Jennifer. I suppose I’m looking for the French equivalent of the NFU. Not necessarily the cheapest but no sneakiness and totally reliable in a crisis.
I don’t mean there has to be a farming connection. It’s more that I want something plain and boring and reliable. The Delia Smith of the car insurance industry.
It’s useful (well proven to me) to have an Agent locally. Nothing beats sitting in their office and talking face to face… and waiting while they sort out/provide the documents etc. especially after an incident/accident which has left one quaking/worried/confused.
I changed insurers a couple of months back when the quotes I was getting became astronomical. @Stella is, of course, quite right - once you’ve done a year with an insurer you can change it any time (as I did).
I had an on-line account with my previous insurers but you couldn’t get a relevé d’information on-line. However, I emailed them asking for it and, much to my surprise, it was sent to me immediately.
I decided to go via Credit Agricole this time. Their insurers (Pacifica) were cheaper but the main thing about them was that I could go into my local branch with any questions or problems. A lot easier! Whether I stay with them, of course, is another matter.
That’s good, it’s been quite a few years ago that I insured a car in France and changing involved registered post in a certain window of of time before renewal. Even worse when I sold the vehicle and simply wanted to stop the policy
Of course, if one sells the car… one’s Insurer will want to see the supporting paperwork (at least our one did) to prove that we no longer owned the car…
we went to the office with all the necessary… and the policy was cancelled…
Ah.. as per my post above… it should be simple. We provided the carte grise barred, signed and marked “sold on … date…” and the other paperwork signed by us and the new owner…
cancelled there and then… but, again, face to face so no worries/delays.
Do you have a MACIF office near you, or Groupama? I’ve found those two to be good to deal with administratively - but have not had any reason to make a claim. MACIF is a mutuelle company, not a for profit insurance company.
That would be my preference too. But the claims management side of things seems to be largely outsourced now. It’s not handled locally. In Strasbourg you really only get to speak to a human face to face when you’re getting a quote or taking out a policy.
