As part of my cost analysis car insurance is on my list so thought it would be good to get some idea of what “typical” car insurance i would expect to pay in France:
Assumptions:
What should i be expecting to pay to insure such a beast ?
and Road tax doesn’t exist as such ? (covered by the toll system)
No car tax, and contrôle technique every 2 years. Re-registering your car can cost a bit so need to factor that in. Plus winter tyres depending on where you are planning to be.
Do you have full no claims bonus? Good driver record. Want to insure for unlimited mileage? Any novice drivers?
Our battered old estate is around 400€ for fully comprehensive.
For a more detailed example, why not consult SFs resident Insurance guru @fabien ?
There’s a link at the top of the page under Affiliates> Insurance> Pepite Courtage.
Evening Nigel,
Actually in France the current value of the vehicle is not that relevant, what’s impacting the premium the most would be your NCD but considering 13 years NCD (maximum discount in France - 50%). The area you are is also super important (more expensive in Paris rather than in French Britany for example). But considering you’re living in Dordogne or Charente and with a 50% discount you may consider 50€ per month BUT to be taken with a hugeeeeee pinch of salt (it’s like saying you can consider a car is worth 20.000€… you can find way cheaper and much more expensive options 
).
Thanks all, sounds like i should count €400-600 p/a then (roughly) starting to like France already.
2 very recent examples for you:
2007 Volvo S60 D5 2.4D Auto 185ps, 47 euros per month
2012 Renault Laguna 2.0DCi 130ps, 38 euros per month
The Volvo is a UK car I am in the process of registering in France, there is usually a bit of an extra cost because it’s right hand drive. No different in France to what you’d expect in the UK, insurance companies don’t like things that are a bit out of the norm. The Renault is a French registered car so nothing unusual about it. Clean driving history, no special requirements etc.
I had no problem getting the maximum 50% bonus - I just sent a copy of the latest UK renewal to my local agent. I am in Dept 37, I don’t know how that compares with your proposed area for risk rating. I possibly could have got cheaper cover via a direct internet based insurer, but that wouldn’t have been so easy to arrange. These are both via AXA, and the local agent was very helpful. Also, very few companies will cover a non French registered car, and those that do only do so on the basis it’s being registered here imminently.
A couple of things to bear in mind:
Insurance in France normally includes breakdown cover - in fact I haven’t found any way of buying insurance that doesn’t include cover, or any way of buying cover separately. Factor that into your comparison with UK prices.
Excesses are often a bit higher. The Renault excess is 450 Euros, compared to the £250 I used to have in the UK on the Volvo.
You haven’t said specifically whether your car is an existing UK car or you will be buying one in France. For either, you can get an idea of the cost of your registration (immatriculation) from several internet sources. This link is for the official simulator: https://www.service-public.fr/simulateur/calcul/cout-certificat-immatriculation. You’ll need to do a bit of research to answer some of the questions - eg fiscal power rating.
However you won’t be able to actually register it yourself until you can get access to the ANTS system, for which you need a France Connect ID, and that’s something you won’t be able to set up until you are in the country and have, for instance, a social security number. So you may need to pay a 3rd party provider to register your car for you. If you buy here, most garages can do it for you for a fee.
You will not pay an additional premium for insuring a RHD car but what you need to be aware of is that if an insurance claim is made for damage to a RHD car it will be valued significant less, about 50%, of the value of an equivalent LHD car. If you are insuring your car toutes risques you might get caught out.
Thanks guys, both very useful replies and helps me a lot to build that picture. The 3 vehicles we would take to France are LHD and Swiss registered so the process should be pretty straight forwards as all docs are already in French, in fact our system here is based more or less on the French system with Carte Gris and COC’s being required.
The insurance costs look good (about double that here) also breakdown is about an additional €200 p/a for the 3 vehicles (one is 3.5t). And then there’s the road tax… but i reckon i’ll pay a small fortune on tolls in France p/a
Richard, that’s interesting. We have a Volvo V40, 150 bhp, 2013 for which we’re paying Euro 66 per month with Allianz. You sound like you have a good deal, may I ask who it’s with? Btw, we’re in Herault, not that different from 37 I would have thought.
I paid Sfr 580 for my S60R in switzerland (fully comp), in Ireland €1485, (fully comp) and here in France i pay €480 also fully comp. The car is RHD and there is no difference for RHD/LHD as David quite rightly states. All policies were with AXA.
Interesting, my BMW is with AXA, I’ll ask for a quote on the Volvo. Does anyone know an online comparison website in France for insurance?.
Brian, it’s with AXA. the car’s a bit older than yours so that might affect it a bit.
Thanks very much, I’ll make enquiries next time I’m in town.
Brian
Beware of online comparison sites…you can end up with years worth of junk cold calls blocking up your phone. Completely notorious for selling on your details.
Ah. Good advice, I get enough junk calls as it is. Thanks.