Cost of services

I had to call my insurance because the windscreen wipers were not working and we were leaving for UK and it was pouring down.
The insurance said that because it has was Sunday they could not get anyone to our house and I should drive for 20 k and then call for a breakdown.
Our route express N 79 is one of the most dangerous in France.
I said I paid for seven day coverage and they were not fulfilling their contract.
As it turned out a local garage came and he was covered by our insurance and he got us going.
Insurance or fraud?

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Pleading about costs?
Not at all. There is always someone who will pay the price and those who seek to get it done for less.
Years ago I had a contract with Green Flag when they branched out from car breakdown to emergency property repairs. A very lucrative contract and my company was always a welcome sight when arriving to get someone out of a predicament.

Breach of contract

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The price, however, is inflated however you look at it.

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I usually ask for a breakdown of any cost for works. We had a cleaning company who after we went through their quote it was obvious they were charging, or trying to, over Ā£200 per hour, not bad for easy window cleaning.

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In UK I was able to change an other-driverā€™s-fault incident to ā€œinformation onlyā€ and it did not affect my premium. Having max no-claims-bonus years for many years seems to be helpful in lots of ways. I wish the French had a proper No Claims Bonus system.

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Same for me.
It was actually a cross boader claim as a french boy driving down the centre of the road failed to move over and the mirrors were destroyed. The french company failed to respond so I got the claim voided.

Slightly different slant but back in the 80s and 90s I had a number of Mercedes renewing every couple of years. The service costs were horrendous and clearly inflated but that was the package.
Just like taking out an insurance policy and accepting the cost charged for claims.

Yeah but they rely on you not then sorting yourself out by finding your own tradesman who might apply a 400 euro Sunday callout fee or 150 km round trip travel charge, then presenting them with the bill and dragging them through court to make them pay it. Though thatā€™s what they deserve.

I hope I will have Janeā€™s presence of mind to know the small print and say the same to them if Iā€™m ever faced with the same.

Proving the loss from lack of service according to contract on a Sunday, and falling for their intention to make you wait till a weekday at their convenience, and you suffer the loss due to them being too lazy to provide the service contracted for, would have been almost impossible. Well done Jane.

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This is also our approach. I absolutely do not wish to tempt the Insurance Fates (!), but I have only made one claim in my (adult) life, years ago, for legal assistance (in dealing with a particularly tiresome nuisance neighbour.)

I have a strange aversion to claiming for anything! I regard insurance as being there for the worst case scenarios eg a house burning to the ground, a car written off, a serious hospitalisation (weā€™re not in Assurance Maladie, but have basic private cover) etc. Everything short of that, Iā€™d generally rather meet the costs myself, however ā‚¬ painful, and avoid the knock-on impact on future premiums, prolonged correspondence with insurers, stress etc. I appreciate this is probably a rather strange view though, and wonā€™t appeal to many!

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Iā€™m surprised you donā€™t have a ā€˜mecā€™ in the village who your neighbours would recommend. I wouldnā€™t go through insurance as it will on hike up your premiums in the future.
Wedge the door or screw through it into the frame and go get the lock you need.

Actually I feel the same way. Never have trusted insurance companies, they take your money quick enough but hang around or argue if you try to claim against anything and then the following year, your premium has gone up and not by just a few euros either. Unfortunately we are obliged by law to have insurance for many things but claiming for something that can be sorted out without resorting to it, is far better.

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So you have never had a job here?

did you mean to say not resorting to it, is far better?

My FIL was a marine insurance broker and Lloyds Name. He had insurances, of course but rarely - if ever - made a claim on a policy.
As @shiba says, there are legal obligations to have certain insurances/assurances in place but nothing compels you to avail yourself of the policy.

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The problem in this situation is the nature of the problem which is an emergency. Locksmiths know that you only use them when there is something wrong that needs fixing quickly and therefore they include that ā€œemergency feeā€ in their pricing. Itā€™s nationwide and is not really related to the charges around here but rather the offer and demand (they know that you basically have no choice if you need to get it done by someone ā€œaccreditedā€). To top it up itā€™s important to understand that all builders in France (including locksmiths) will charge a premium on the materials they resell, that premium is often massive (50% to 100 double the price) and doubling the price of materials is very common so that would explain the prices he ā€œquotedā€.

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Its the perception of emergency, if your building is flooding, its an emergency, A lockout is an emergency others are inconveniences.

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Agreed

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When Iā€™ve previously worked in France, I was a classic ā€˜expatā€™, seconded here by my UK employer for 18 months. As is typically the case for such secondments, I remained covered when in France by my employerā€™s private health insurance, and was also contributing only to UK national insurance, not Secu.

This time round, Iā€™ve come here as a ā€˜full timeā€™ ā€˜inactifā€™ having finally stopped working, after 36 years. My wife and I have decided for now to continue with (basic) private health insurance, at least for the next 5 years. Touching wood furiously, Iā€™ve been to see a doctor once in 25 years, and consider that (for now at least) Iā€™m fortunately in very good health.Iā€™m happy to directly meet occasional pharmacist/doctors visit costs as and when, with health cover basically as ā€˜back upā€™ for hospitalisations. I donā€™t (yet) have a doctor, though my wife does.

Oh I see - I was confused because I vaguely remembered you had worked here but thought you had been working here like a normal person rather than with expat status :slightly_smiling_face: also your picture makes you look youthful so I hadnā€™t thought of being retired. Actually I almost never think of retirement, what an idiot :slightly_smiling_face:

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Thatā€™s the nicest thing Iā€™ve heard all week! Iā€™m 59, so not exactly youthful by anybodyā€™s standards,but retiring at 57, as I did, is probably rather on the reckless youthful sideā€¦

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