Stephen, I haven't read through all the replies yet, but when we got our broker (Siaci, in Paris) to change it this year (we had had a much cheaper quote from MMA) this was the reply I had regarding the 2-month rule, which has apparently changed.....
Please note that there is a law in France which enables private individuals to cancel an insurance policy within 20 days of receiving the renewal premium invoice from his insurer. Hence the need to cancel a policy 2 months prior to the renewal date is no longer necessary. However, we note that you have issued notice to Generali and would be grateful if you would send us a copy of your letter of cancellation.
So I sent it to Siaci via registered post, and all was fine. We saved 25% from last year's price, never mind what the renewal price was putting our cost up to! Now with Allianz.
There will always be some good experiences, our first experience of claiming when we had a flood was good. Sadly it was clear if we were to remain on good terms with our insurance company, then further claims should not be produced! Consumer protection is poor in France. The difficulties we had with France Telecom made us wonder why we were not being given better assistance was within our first few months of moving to France, we assumed it was a one off....not so. We have had several instances, one when our insured roof leaked.....'so sue me' was the reply from the builder......part of the reason we gave up and returned to Blighty....at least we know the rules here.
I am paying around 400 euros for insurance on my 10 year old Agila in France, I have no roadside assistance, no 3 months cover abroad, no courtesy car. Ive just paid my insurance in the UK on my 3 year old Agila here, £183 with Halifax Insurance...with all the above thrown in. Both are fully comp and both include my 65 year old husband as a driver. I cant find 'compare the market' type websites in France...maybe they are there and I am missing them, but we rang around and got the best deal we could in France.
We had a broken double glazed door, went in to see our AXA Agent, explained that I had broken it with a ladder. They filled out the claims form, 2 weeks later we had a call asking if a company could come and measure up, 3 weeks later a call to come and fit, they took out the broken pane, fitted the new one, cleaned up all the mess and left. We did not have to pay a penny. Problem is that the cover was very expensive and with the money we can save by switching companies we could have replaced the pane ourselves.
rgds, Mike L
Umm, I've had several claims with household insurance, once for a fire that holiday tenants had caused - hung their wet ski clothes on the old fashioned fire heater in the bathroom, -you know the one with a bar that glows bright red - muppets. The company took our quotes, advanced us 80% and said bring in the invoice when it is done and we will pay the balance or do it yourself and just have the 80% - no problems. As it was a rental we chose to have the artisan do it and they paid up no problems.
Another time our cave flooded (turned out is was a regular occurrence in the building) the assessor came and looked at the junk we had stored in there. Her peeped in one bag, full of old court shoes and strappy sandals that I hadn't used in years (not much call for them in Chamonix) and said - ooh, ladies shoes, shall we say 30€ per pair, thank you very much we said (10 prs in the bag). The whole assessment was in the same vein, again they sent their agreement and said 80% up front, the balance on proof of receipts.
I managed to prang my new car on our gate (first prang in about 20 yrs natch), claimed on line, took it to Peugeot, no probs. Even kept my no claims as the new rules stipulate.
As I mentioned earlier, we use big names, which are not cheap, we read the small print and abide by the rules, eg, we very reluctantly have our chimney swept professionally every year even though my husband is quite capable of doing it himself.
no! see other my other replies ;-)
c'était le système, mais ce n'est plus le cas ! la loi chatel a tout changé ! see my reply further on ;-)
Does anyone have any GOOD insurance experience to share? At present I am wondering if I'm better not insuring the house and only having 3rdparty for the car. And,why is consumer protection so weak in France?
It was AXA that we had problems with too. They are permanently off my list of possible insurers. I had a car insured in the UK with AXA....I had 7 years no claims bonus, when we moved to France, I used AXA again, they refused to acknowledge my NCB as it wasn't in France. I later found out they should have....sorry, but I find dealing with insurance companies these days a waste of time. We took out insurance on our Dordogne property, had a flood just after we moved in when our roof (which had been renewed 8 years before) leaked and ruined new carpets we had laid. It was a small claim compared to what we could have claimed....I repainted all the walls that had water marks on them myself. They settled the claim....3 years later we had a problem and contacted the insurance company, the agent said it would be a very, very bad idea to claim twice in a five year period, and it could double our insurance in future......can see that insurance companies now are totally risk adverse....probably a better idea to just put money aside to cover accidents....one big claim and you would be uninsurable from what I can see.
That Tina seems to be where we are. They only email me a renewal notice just before the renewal date, hence the problem I cite. We are in the UK during December/January and this makes it difficult to talk to them (why, I don't know, but it seems so).
The law has been changed you have 21 days from the post mark on the renewal envelope you dont need to send registered letters attend church or swear allegiance to the queen just contact the new insurance company within the 21 days sending a photo copy of the envelope with the post mark. what does surprise me though i dont know why it should is that contacting at least 6 agents all giving quotes from AXA and every quote is different for the same company and the same insurance company ,obviously all on different commission
Sorry I haven't got the time to read the whole thread but just quote the loi chatelat your insurers - it was the case but chatel changed the law so you can cancel if you didn't receive the renewal notice in time to give the required notice. Most French people aren't aware of the change either. I've used it several times as I shop around for all our various insurances at each renewal.
Bonne chance ;-)
I rest my case; it depends who you ask as to what is legal or not. The insurance company will maintain they have law on their side....but do they? not always. I have got to the point of when taking insurance out....like I did recently, I state clearly, I am taking this insurance for one year only; I follow that up with a registered letter stating I am not renewing my insurance next year, so please cancel my insurance for 2013 -2014.....yet they still pretend they have no idea what you are talking about.....I am beginning to view insurance companies as all out gangsters, extracting money from the poor customer regardless. Final point, the insurance company letter to remind the customer that their insurance will soon be due, is not sent by registered mail....so why cant the customer claim, as the insurance company most definitely will, that they did not receive the letter as it wasnt sent registered post?
If I'm reading this rightly, the insurer is obliged by law to include on the renewal notice the date by which you can cancel the contract and failure to do so gives the insured the right to cancel at any time up to the renewal date.
Am I reading it right?
I don't assume they are any better Tim, I assume (and then read thoroughly before I sign) when something is cheaper, that they have probably cut corners to make it cheaper. You don't get anything for nothing, neither in France or the UK (or wherever folks come from). In my brief spell in the UK (over 20 years ago now) I worked as a business manager selling finance for cars. I wouldn't dream of signing anything, without reading it thoroughly first, you'd be amazed how many people do though - although in your line of business, I guess you wouldn't:-)
Keeping the envelope applies to any official letters, the RSI are particularly adept at putting one date on the letter then posting it up to a week later.
Tracy don't assume the 'well known names' are any better. In the case of my client it was the biggest insurer in France. I found out it was the agent who removed the now usual ' à l'identique' cover to make the premium lower. And, if this is of any help to everyone when you get your renewal it must have printed on it in readable print and an easy to find position:
"Votre contrat est renouvelé chaque année automatiquement, par tacite reconduction. Si vous souhaitez ne pas le reconduire, vous disposez, quelles que soient les dispositions de votre contrat, d’un délai de vingt jours suivant l’envoi du présent avis d’échéance, le cachet de La Poste faisant foi. Votre demande doit nous être adressée par lettre recommandée."
So the 2012 agreement amended the 15 days and made it 20 days - from the date on the envelope. Keep the envelope!
Too true Tim. I used to be a financial adviser and constantly nagged my clients to READ THE SMALL PRINT AND ENSURE THE PRODUCT WAS RIGHT FOR THEM. Irarelysoldgeneral insurance though - I don't like insurance products which are designed to AVOID paying claims.
My broker said the Loi chatel was amended on the 1 January 2012 allowing for cancellation after the 2 month that the insurance companies try to enforce if they want the 2 months notice they must advise of renewal 3 months before the end of the contract. Perhaps it is worth reading the law on legifrance. I think it is LOI n° 2005-67
This is standard, however, shop around the companies and any decent insurer will handle it all for you. They handle the resiliation and can often find a way for you to cancel.
Caution though, this is from someone who speaks fairly good French. As a non-native, unless you are 100% sure you have translated and understood everything thoroughly, it is usually better to stick with the well known names, otherwise as Tim points out, you could be in for a nasty shock when you claim. This is how the cheaper insurers manage to undercut the big insurance companies.
Have just found this thread which helped clarify things for me: http://www.france-forum-frenchentree.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=130734. It also has a link to a letter template.