French Home Insurance: The Myths That Could Cost You Thousands

French home insurance is not quite as straightforward as you might expect, especially if you’re coming from the UK or another country with a different insurance system.

In this episode of France Made Simple, Cat is joined by Fabien from Fab French Insurance to debunk some of the biggest myths surrounding French home and contents insurance.

We look at what is legally required depending on whether you’re a tenant, homeowner, second-home owner or landlord, and why French insurance doesn’t work in quite the same way as UK buildings and contents insurance.

We also cover some of the areas that regularly catch people out, including:

• Why buildings-only and contents-only policies aren’t generally how French home insurance works
• What happens if you have a swimming pool, garage, shed or other outbuilding
• Why your valuable possessions in a shed may not be covered simply because you’ve declared the shed
• How the “new for old” principle actually works; and why it doesn’t necessarily mean getting back what you originally paid
• Why photographing your possessions and keeping receipts, valuations and certificates of authenticity can make a huge difference when making a claim
• Chimney sweeping, maintenance and what insurers may expect
• How “catastrophe naturelle” claims work in France
• Why natural-disaster cover is different from ordinary claims
• The surprising issue of underground water pipes and where responsibility for leaks begins and ends
• And perhaps the biggest culture shock of all: accidental damage to your own possessions is generally NOT included in a standard French home insurance policy.

As always, the aim isn’t to scare you into buying more insurance, it’s to understand what you actually have, what you don’t have, and where the potential gaps might be.

Because when it comes to French insurance, as Fabien puts it: you don’t know what you don’t know until you find out you don’t know it!