C’est la rentrée! Even if you don’t have school age children, this can’t have passed you by; even the supermarkets adopt “C’est la rentrée” as a slogan to sell you everything from multipacks of biros to beer. The rentrée is a big deal in France. It’s a time to join clubs, take up a new sport and generally get your house in order before the onslaught of winter.
And thinking about finances and reviewing expenditure is all part of the getting organised process. Most of us are feeling the pinch these days and it makes sense to make sure you aren’t wasting any of your hard earned cash.
Reviewing insurance policies and seeing if you can get a better deal (very often you can) and / or save some money, is a quick and easy task and is well worth doing. Cancelling a French insurance policy is less straightforward. But never fear! We are here to help; read on and we will explain how.
If your motor or house insurance policy is over 12 months old, you can invoke the ‘loi Hamon’ and switch your policy to another insurer whenever you want. This is a 31 day process (although in reality it is closer to 45 days as the process only takes effect when all the documents have been signed off) and the new insurer has to take responsibility for sending all the required documents, included the recorded delivery notification of your wish to terminate the policy. It’s important to note that only the new insurer can do this; the concept behind the ‘loi Hamon’ is to ensure that there is no break in the insurance cover.
If the policy is less than 12 months old, or for any other insurance policy, you can cancel it using the better known ‘loi Châtel’ which involves sending a recorded delivery letter to your current insurer at least two months before the renewal date. It is well worth noting renewal dates in your diary as if you miss the date by even one day, your contract will be automatically renewed for another 12 months. Many policies renew at the end of the year so now is the time to act - don’t delay!
And don’t be tempted to terminate your policy by cancelling payments as you might do in the UK. French insurers have access to a central file detailing your insurance history and any future policies that you might want to take out will be trickier to arrange and more expensive to boot.
So, your best option is to get in touch with SF’s recommended insurance broker Fabien Pellisier. Fabien is highly recommended by everyone who uses him and is almost guaranteed to save you money and will definitely make dealing with your insurance requirements a pain free process.
More about @fabien and a few testimonials from your fellow readers here;