A matter of policy with French Property

Home insurance, public liability insurance, and car insurance are all compulsory in France, and health insurance also needs to be considered, before you sign for your dream French property.

1) Home insurance: English-speaking
Home insurance in France is generally cheaper than in the UK. However, if your French is basic then searching for the correct cover could be highly demanding, and the process of making a claim, a horrendous ordeal! It may be more important to you to find an insurance company which has an English-speaking claims line, even if they do not offer the lowest quote. Alternatively, although expensive, many UK brokers offer policies written in English under French law and designed for holiday homes, making choosing cover and making a claim far easier for non-bilingual homeowners.

2) Home insurance: Insure, and then buy
Failure to insure your home is a criminal offence and in France you are legally obliged to insure your property even before you have purchased it. The second you legally assume ownership, home insurance becomes your responsibility and the notaire will ask you to produce your policy before you sign the final acte de vente. While it is possible to take over the vendor’s policy, it is important to remember that your circumstances and the way in which you intend to use the property could be very different. You will need to inform the owner in plenty of time if you do not wish to assume their policy as, if it is not cancelled two months in advance by writing, you may be forced to pay for the entire year.

3) Home insurance: Cover all bases
Assurance multirisque habitation is the type of insurance held by most French families. It includes buildings and contents insurance, and protects your home from fire, explosion, storm, water damage, theft and vandalism. The policies can be very comprehensive and although valuable items are often not included, it can be catered to your requirements to include, among other options, cover for public liability, sports, school trips, accidents in the work place and animals. Hence the title, ‘multi risk’.

4) Home insurance: Holiday homes
It is important to inform your insurance broker of exactly how you intend to use your property. If you are renting out to the public, you will fall into the category of using your property for ‘commercial purposes’. Failure to declare this could result in a claim being denied. Premiums depend not only on how many days through the year your property will be occupied, but also on how long the periods between occupancy are likely to be. Companies are often reluctant to insure holiday homes and, many policies in fact lapse if the property is left unoccupied for over three weeks. Commonly, if you know someone who can check on your property weekly while it is left empty, it will lose its status as a maison abandonée and your premium will lower a little.

5) Home insurance: Check exclusions
It is important to read the entire policy carefully and to ascertain exactly what exclusions will be imposed. Be clear what security and protection measures you will have to take. Do you need certain locks? Does the water system need to be drained each time you leave the property for a given period? Does the temperature need to be kept at a constant minimum throughout the winter? Are you required to fit shutters? If you intend to use your property as a second home it is worth trying to avoid such stipulations, as ‘swinging by to pop the heating on’ is unlikely to be a feasible option.

6) Public liability insurance
Public liability insurance is obligatory in France and covers you for any accidents and injuries to third parties on your property, as well as any bodily harm accidentally inflicted on others by you, your family and often also any animals you may keep. Public liability insurance is an important element if you plan to let your home given the current trend towards litigation it is important to be covered. Public liability insurance is more than often included in the umbrella multirisque policy; however, this will need to be checked, and if not already incorporated, purchased á la carte.

7) The EHIC
While the presence of that EHIC card in your wallet may seem comforting, it is important not to rely on it as a replacement for travel insurance while holidaying in France. The EHIC card covers only ‘necessary treatment’, reimburses around 65% of the total cost of your healthcare and does not cover repatriation or the costs of being rescued by helicopter or blood wagon. Good travel insurance is strongly advised and must be extended to include cover for winter or water sports if relevant. If you plan to live in France, the EHIC card will cover you only for one year, and only if you continue to pay national insurance or tax in the UK.

8) Healthcare: Who qualifies for what?
Last November, the French government tightened their provision of healthcare and since then only expatriates in possession of an E121 can be automatically affiliated into the French healthcare system. This means that if you are over the UK legal retirement age and drawing on a UK state pension, or you claim longterm incapacity benefit or severe disablement benefit, you will be eligible to state healthcare as before. If you are under the retirement age and working in France, your employer will automatically deduct cotisations from your wages towards Securité Sociale, entitling you to the same 65% reimbursement of medication and treatment received by French citizens. If you are self-employed, you will be required to make the same contributions through either the Securité Sociale office or your relevant professional organisation. Those who are economically inactive in France but fall under the legal UK retirement age, can be covered for a certain period by an E106 form.

9) Top yourself up
Those affiliated in the French healthcare system may wish to take out ‘top-up’ or ‘complementary’ healthcare insurance. This refunds the difference between the amount Securité Sociale reimburses and what the healthcare system actually charges you. As It is worth choosing one suited to your likely requirements. If you are generally in good health, it may be more suitable to opt for cover for only the most expensive eventualities such as hospitalisation while ‘topping up’ any odd trips to the doctor from your own pocket.

10) Insuring your car
Car insurance is taken very seriously in France and failure to produce proof of your cover could result in six months in prison, a lifestyle far from the French idyll. Unlike in the UK, it is the car that is insured, rather than the chauffeur, allowing for multiple drivers (with certain restrictions). Generally, your car must be registered in France in order to be insured by a French broker. By reregistering, you will generally benefit from lower premiums than in the UK and biennial contrôles techniques (French version of the annual MOT). It is often possible to carry over your no claims bonus from your UK insurer. If you do not wish to live in, but plan to holiday regularly in France, your existing insurance will only automatically cover you for third party.

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