Home insurance in France: property, contents, and liability
-
Loading... - Gretel Meier
- 06 Jun 2022
- 298 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
France has legal requirements concerning home insurance, so it’s important to know what type of coverage you’ll need if you buy or rent a property.
Introduction to home insurance in France
There are two main types of home insurance (assurance habitation) in France. These are:
- Civil liability insurance (assurance responsabilité civile), which covers damage to third parties and their property caused by you or your home
- Multi-risk insurance (assurance multirisque), which is liability insurance plus protection for your own home and its contents
Civil liability insurance is the minimum legal requirement for tenants in rental properties, landlords of rental homes, and those who own apartments in communal buildings. However, around 90% of homeowners take out multi-risk home insurance.
There is also an additional type of home insurance in France called construction insurance (dommages-ouvrage), which is compulsory if you buy a new build or carry out extensive renovation works. This protects you against defects for the first ten years. Many multi-risk plans include this.
Home insurance is one of the biggest insurance sectors in France. Property and liability insurance combined were worth €59.2 billion in 2020. As with all insurance in France, the Banque de France is the official regulatory body.
Can you use home insurance from another country in France?
If you are relocating to France, you may be able to transfer your existing policy to your new French property if your current insurer is licensed to trade in France. All insurance companies within the EU/EFTA can sell their products in France as long as they operate within EU guidelines. Additionally, many other international companies also trade in France.
However, you won’t be able to transfer a policy under the same terms. This is because your insurer will want to recalculate your premium based on your new French home. They may also charge an admin fee for this. Furthermore, as France has different legal home insurance requirements than many countries, you’ll need to make sure you have adequate minimum coverage.
You may be able to transfer a home contents insurance policy under the same terms if you have an extended plan that includes overseas coverage. Read More...
