A simple guide to home insurance

When relocating to France, it’s compulsory to have home insurance

In France, home insurance is essential in order to protect your property if things go wrong; for example, problems such as water damage, fire, theft, vandalism and glass breakage. To help get you started with things, here’s our simple guide to what you need to know…

When to take out home insurance

• If you are the tenant:
  An insurance certificate is compulsory when you sign the lease. Another requirement under French law is to have a civil liability policy, the ‘assurance responsibilité civile’. This is in case of any accidental damage you may have caused towards the other person’s property. In France, you are deemed liable to your landlord for any damages you may have caused to their property.
• If you are the owner:
  Owners must have an insurance policy including at least a third-party liability cover for loss or damage. Your notaries will require proof of this before you sign the acte de vente. Basic coverage is usually included with the contract, such as fire, water damage, theft, broken glass, natural disasters and storms. When deciding on the right contract, it’s important to address your specific needs to best protect your home.

How to choose home insurance

When it comes to choosing your home insurance, the first thing you’ll need to do is to obtain a valuation of your property. This includes finding out the value of your furniture, valuables, the number of items to be insured as well as the surface area of the home. Keep in mind that any rooms larger than 40m2 will be considered equivalent to two main rooms.

The rooms that have to be accounted for include bedrooms, kitchen (bigger than 30m2), dining rooms, studies, libraries, game rooms and all covered enclosed terraces or conservatories. The insurance company must be notified if adding or taking away any rooms in your home. Cover can be declared invalid if you add rooms and fail to notify your insurance company.

Home insurance in France is automatically renewed unless there is a written notice confirming you wish to cancel. Since 2015, under Loi Hamon (the law introduced in 2014 to reinforce consumer protection), it’s now possible to cancel your insurance at any given time.