Not one decent dinner party can conclude until some one has regaled his fellow gluttons with some horror story suitably slanted to show that it wasn’t he that failed to declare everything, or read the contract properly or protect his property in a prudent manner.  No, it was the insurer who ripped him off…

In France as in all countries with an insurance market worthy of the name, the image problem will simply not go away.  Given the importance of the subject (your house is important to you isn’t it?) it is astonishing that future insureds’ attention spans always come to a dead halt at the line on the insurance proposal that begins: “your annual premium will amount to…”   No real and objective comparison with other offers is made at the time of taking out the insurance and when the cheapest cover gives the lowest indemnity, well we all know whose fault it is.

Fair enough, it’s not easy to decipher some offers that are made to you.  But in your haste to get the lowest possible premium are you not guilty of overlooking the fact that for complex accounting issues you will talk sweetly to your accountant, or that, for a loan or overdraft, you will spill your heart out to your banker but for insurance you’ll go on line and buy the special offer of the month?  

Only those of you who have been unlucky enough to have had a major claim can really understand the importance of getting your insurance right from the outset.

So who should you turn to?   In France your local insurance Agent might do the job but do remember that, since this is France, the term an “Agent Général” really means that he can only sell you one brand of insurance.

If you really want value for money, do as you would do in America, Ireland or the U.K. and talk to an insurance broker. He doesn’t have to be situated in the next village provided you can talk to him and tell him exactly what you want.  As always, the truth helps.  If you’ve already had a claim for water damage or your car has been in an accident then say so. Failure to hold back information can invalidate the policy.  Ask the broker for the quote that suits your needs. As an independent broker, his duty is to scour the market for the best deal given all that you have told about you and what makes your risk different from the others. Your cover and your insurance premium will then relate to the specifics that you have and not those of the office colleague who recommended the 'thingy Mutual' to you because they give 3 months free cover.

In future articles I shall tackle such specifics as: “Premium, the one dimensional view”, “Can you reinvent insurance?” and “I claim, you claim, we claim – get it right!”

Geoffrey Auckland

Insurance consultant / Conseil en assurances

geoffauck@free.fr

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