I now own a French car and have been working the horror that is getting it insured (TFF - 3rd party only). At present I have 30 days cover through AXA till paperwork is sorted. Turns out (long story) that I need to go back to Oz before the 30 days is up and wont be back for 6+ months. Is it possible for me to pay the 30 days cover then take out effectively new insurance in 6 months time or does that "gap" in insurance ring bells/break rules somewhere
it is the insurance interruption that poses problems globally, I've been throught this... a french friend of mine helped me to figure this out with a broker online, i think autoresilie or sosresilie something like that ! i gave my CG, drivers licence and french adress that's all !
I agree with that totally Mark but surely Axa has a responsibility to ensure that all their agents are at least operating to minimum standards. I know for a fact that they run a "Agent of the Year" type scheme because a friend of my daughter's one it one year (it may be regional?). How many of the agents that have come bottom of that assessment have been fired I wonder? The one I dealt with had been an efficient, friendly operation until the (spoilt) only son took over from the father. It swiftly moved from being a business run for clients to one run by and for sonny boy. I must check and see if they are still in business.
I think that it is worth bearing in mind that insurance agents here are agents for the big companies but operating as a separate business. This gives each agent the freedom to make adjustments to rates charged & the freedom to choose the way they present the business. I have found that, while one Axa agent will charge a lot & treat me with distain, the one in the next town will be the complete opposite - despite both representing the same company! It's not the insurance company, it's how efficient & honest the agent is.
Not long ago I questioned the ability of an Axa agent in Nice to offer car insurance anually on UK registered cars as stated on their website, contrary to French, British & EU law, only to be told that they had a "special mandate" from Axa to do so! I thought that this might not be the case & contacted Axa Head office who told me that "no such mandate exists". The website no longer says this...
My local Axa agent could not offer the same service, only the usual one month at a time for 6 months to enable French registation. I have noticed that some Brits use agents some way from where they live, some with UK registered cars. I wonder why?
Steve, you haven’t contacted me!
Your numbers are looking good - mine is 1,200-1,400 TP only
Your numbers are looking good - mine is 1,200-1,400 TP only
They just called me back and are refusing to cover me as I dont speak fluent French - surely against some EU law !!!
Paulette,disappointed in the lack of response
I had one of my cars breakdown lata year and used my MAAF insurance callout service. They picked up the car in the middle of nowhere after around an hour, brought it to their garage overnight and then brought it to a Mercedes garage the following day. There is no point in just dumping the car in an inappropriate garage. I’m sure your insureres would agree, I suspect it was the breakdown service that shortchanged you.
Your experience of AXA mirrors my own Rob.
You don’t need to cancel a cover note in writing. It just lapses after 30 days. Best practice is to keep the agent informed of the progress though
Yes you get a green vignette with 30 days cover and a black line through it if the AXA man has done it right, this means you have 30 days to sort the paperwork. You can ask him to cancel the contract, which you must do in writing, and you can say you will not get the paperwork sorted in time. I know this, as it happened to me with AXA until I got proof of No Claims Discount. I had TP only, for €400 a compelte rip off, IN England, I pay £135 fully comp for my car. French car insurance is robbery, they are more interested than the garage assistance that you get and when you do use it, you are taken to the nearest garage where you are held to ransom and cannot fix it yourself ( if you can ) France really needs a kick up the bum and some comparison websites like in Yookay. on so many things, eg telephone, internet, power, insurance, car insurance......... the list goes on and on.
At the moment I have a car sitting on our ground, it's had no insurance or "Controle technique" for the last 2 years. as long as the car doesn't move off your property you are not liable for insurance. However if it gets nicked or it explodes while you're away well tough s**t your loss or you have to pay for any eventual damages. However if you move it even only a wheel onto a public road it's illegal.
My advice is to stay clear of AXA as I find them a bunch of thieves. (They'll happily take your money, only to tell you things are not as you thought they would be when you need your insurance )
You can find car insurance at far better rates with other companies.
Shop around.
Just because the AXA signs are everywhere doesn't mean they are the only one.
I'd love to as my experience with AXA (who I have 2 houses insured through) has been very mixed
I would have Googled "assurance auto temporaire" and probably picked the top 5 - then had a look from there...
There are many that seem to offer the same thing.
I just chose www.assuranceendirect.com probably because of the price or the layout of their website!
There are virtually no questions asked - that's why the premium is relatively high. I think I paid 20€ for a day on an Espace - but it saved so many more headaches with the proper insurer.
I have also taken 10 days with them on another vehicle and that cost about 50€ - so the tarif does go down.
They ask no questions, no proof needed... perhaps if you needed to claim there may be proof needed? You pay more for the convenience and lack of questions!!
Try asking AXA whether they'll give you a reduced rate on the basis that the car won't be driven and will be in a security car park so the risk of theft/damage is minimal. If they're interested in keeping your business they should be able to come up with something. I'll see what my insurance agent says if I can contact her on Monday but I would have thought you needed at least very basic cover in case it catches fire, for example, and burns the parking lot down :-)
Perhaps go to an agent who knows what they are doing! Or is it your driving license which is causing the trouble?
When I walk in to my broker requires the cg in my name, a copy of my driving license (held on file now) & some money.
They then print out my contract which I sign & I leave with a green vignette for my windscreen & the insurance certificate for the car documents.
Andy - who did you do this with and was it easy