Our experience with Insurance and tops ups. I hope this is useful

Is it possible to pin a link to Amazon (.co.uk .fr .de) etc to make it easier to do so?

2 Likes

That’s a good idea, I’ll give it some thought.

3 Likes

Hi, let’s jump in the “commission issue” wagon :wink: I’ll try to remain on the line of the full disclosure, basically we are giving a cut of the commission on the first year only so that the advise isn’t biased. To be even more honest, brokers are usually paid 10% of the premium (on the net premium thought, which is usually roughly 10% less than the premium you’re actually paying). As per legal requirements we are not paying referral fees from the 2nd year and beyond so we actually “take the hit” on the first year by not keeping the full commission (sharing it with SFN in that case) and then we get the normal commission on the following years. It’s important to understand that the commission is always there, whatever you go to a local agent, online, through a broker or even direct with the company it’s still there and the only thing that changes is the one who claims it :wink:

Whatever the origin of the referral, I try to advise as honestly as possible and some here might (hopefully) confirm that I’m actually a terrible sale agent, as I’m mostly pitching for the lowest end offers that seems the more relevant to me in most cases rather than the higher end alternatives.

To put that simply, loyalty is what’s keeping us afloat nowadays, not one shot deals :stuck_out_tongue:

4 Likes

I have literally just put my pen down from writing cheques from @james ‘s latest hospital stay.
62.91 - lab fees
104.26 to the clinic
All of this will be refunded by the mutuelle. If we didn’t have one I’d have got 70% of the 62.91 .
I would also have had to pay the 74.60 in ‘excess’ pharmacy charges, plus four visits to the GP leaving me out of pocket to the tune of 227.73.

This is way more than our monthly premium and doesn’t include both him and I going to the kine (for other things) and taking our son to the doctors.

Personally I think unless you are both incredibly healthy and very lucky, not having a top up policy is quite mad!

4 Likes

I would also appreciate a link to Amazon as I do use their services from time to time and would be happy for SFN to benefit therefrom under this arrangement.

4 Likes

Just wish to say thank you to both Jim and Fabien for clarifying the commission issue and for Fabien’s approach to assisting clients. I turned to Fabien after joining this site and have found him to be excellent with providing me with better and more cost-effective policies for a mutuelle and rental insurance. He and his Associate provide great customer service and I trust their practices --a unique concept and lesson for business services in France ; )
So thank you to SFN and Fabien both from an American expat here!

5 Likes

OOOPS! Meant to say James. Apologize to you James.

2 Likes

So could i ask who would you recommend to go to for our health insurance when we move to brittany next march ? Do we go to brokers in the high street, a bank, a doctors ?
Im finding this move a bit of a minefield. So much to consider before we move and after we get there.

1 Like

Does @fabien cover Brittany ??? … got to be worth you asking him, as I know his advice is always worthwhile…

and you can check with your Bank etc… the choice is yours… :relaxed:

@Stella ah ah good one :wink: I have covered people in Corsica and in the bask “country” so as long as they’re still part of France this goes without saying :stuck_out_tongue:

@bevlar1957 I’m happy to have a chat if you’d like so you can better explain your situation and I’ll advise accordingly on the best course of action (from my perspective)? If you want to get in touch directly => fabien@pepite-courtage.com

1 Like

What other things does Fabien do. I have a huge problem concerning death cover with Insurance for my dead husbands car.

I had an health insurance in U.K. for many years but have canceled it as it got too expensive. Any claims were hard work. Their health advisers were all nurses and one of them had never heard of the condition I was claiming for, I had to explain ti to her. I would like to have a Mutuelle here in France but the 2 brokers I have approached say the contract is in French and suitable for me.

If you are a french resident why should a french contract be unsuitable for you? Odd…

Can you remind us Fay… are you now Resident in France and, if so, do you have a carte vitale ?

Perhaps because I asked for a translation?

Yes, I have a Carte Vitale would I get one if was not resident?

https://external-cdg2-1.xx.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=AQDn_XB99R3xv-gS&w=540&h=282&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.connexionfrance.com%2Fvar%2Fconnexion%2Fstorage%2Fimages%2Fmedia%2Fimages%2Fweb%2Fdoc2%2F776256-1-eng-GB%2Fdoc_articleimage.jpg&cfs=1&upscale=1&fallback=news_d_placeholder_publisher&_nc_hash=AQB9xTzPkDv2m4bU

Hi Fay… frankly, I was confused by your post, talking about UK healthcare… and I could not find where you said that you had a Carte Vitale…

hence my questions…

The French Contract will be in French… but you can check-out what it says using Google translate or similar… taking it a bit at a time…

cheers

@ Fay jay But that shouldn’t stop you signing up to a mutuelle if you want to? If your french isn’t up to understanding it as is, just means you need to translate, or get someone to translate, the document that you sign so they can be sure you understand what you are signing?

I’m astounded … 2 Brokers… yet neither (apparently) could explain things…:thinking: