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19/05/2008, 8:52 ErnieY Joined on 05/12/2006 W of Cahors (46) Posts 4,151 Re: Cost of insurance in France  Cerise wrote: The secret is to ask your UK company to give you a letter expressing your NCB in percentage not years.  Worked for me anyway. Better still is to get one which simply states FULL or MAX The question is will your existing company do it and in my experience neither of our's in UK would (2 cars) as it was outside the 'box' The trouble is that the systems these people have tend to just churn out preformatted letters where it is impossible to change anything so if the bonus is stated in years it cannot be changed to say something else. What is MAX NCB anyway, there seems to be no industry standard and every company has it's own idea be it 4, 5, 7, 9 years, or whatever  Jay wrote: An imported car will obviously cost a little more to insure, just as it does in the UK In UK that'll be about 99% of them then   My doctor said one drink per day, I can live with that !    Report

19/05/2008, 9:32 Llantony Joined on 23/08/2004 Nottingham & Lauzerte (82) Posts 261 Re: Cost of insurance in France Many thanks for the replies, they do help - though it sounds as though French insurance companies operate in different ways to UK ones and each other! I've a feeling that as our current motor insurance is via M & S it may be hard to get a NCB letter.  They change the company every year to get the cheapest. We'll be keeping the battered Citroen Berlingo as long as possible as the pension will be pretty small. Someone assumed I'm a man - I'm not.    Report

19/05/2008, 9:43 Ron Avery Joined on 29/11/2004 Aveyron 12 Posts 3,393 Re: Cost of insurance in France But NCB is really just a myth in France, its a starting figure.  As others have said,  the max is generally about 50%. There is not protected NCB that I have come across and if you have a blameworthy accident you will pay a very high premium for a number of years before you get back to your original status. What does vary is the rate of recovery, so if you are in that situation it pays to shop around and ask how your insurer calculates it, I moved from Groupama to Pacifica as the period and rate of recovery was quicker and less loaded respectively with Pacifica.  But a word of warning for all yet to have an accident, they do not argue the toss over blame for years, if there is any element of doubt as to blame its 50 - 50 and a lot of accidents like hitting whilst changing lanes on an autoroute that would be treated as being the fault of one driver are treated  50 -50, you can say and do what you like, they decide and that is it, even if the other party admits blame,  Be very clear what you write and draw on the constat it cannot be changed when you get your senses back!! Why not post a sensible answer, people will appreciate it more    Report

19/05/2008, 10:32 Jay Joined on 26/09/2007 Posts 91 Re: Cost of insurance in France  Bob T wrote: Wise words in the last sentence Jay. Shame that you illegally drove your car on UK plates for nine months though. Why a shame? I was actually stopped by the police 6 months into our stay and breathalysed, they looked over the car, checked the plates and insurance/CT in the windscreen and wished us a good day (in perfect English) – no problem. The insurance company didn’t see it as a problem either, they gave us insurance for 6 month then extended it for another 6 when we hadn’t completed the changeover to French plates.    Report

19/05/2008, 10:44 cooperlola Joined on 05/05/2006 72 - Sarthe - home of les 24 heures du Mans Posts 6,438 Re: Cost of insurance in France  Ron Avery wrote: But NCB is really just a myth in France, its a starting figure.  As others have said,  the max is generally about 50%. There is not protected NCB that I have come across and if you have a blameworthy accident you will pay a very high premium for a number of years before you get back to your original status. Not so, Ron.  MAAF offer NCB ("Bonus a Vie") to anybody who is accident free for 3 years.  They keep their 50% rate for life, once the three years is up. Healthcare Issues Site    Report

19/05/2008, 11:47 Clair Joined on 23/08/2004 ------- Forum Moderator ------- Lot (46) Posts 7,793 Re: Cost of insurance in France  cooperlola wrote:  Ron Avery wrote: But NCB is really just a myth in France, its a starting figure.  As others have said,  the max is generally about 50%. There is not protected NCB that I have come across and if you have a blameworthy accident you will pay a very high premium for a number of years before you get back to your original status. Not so, Ron.  MAAF offer NCB ("Bonus a Vie") to anybody who is accident free for 3 years.  They keep their 50% rate for life, once the three years is up. You beat me to it! That's what we have had since last year. Clair Real Virtual French Person    Report

19/05/2008, 13:14 ErnieY Joined on 05/12/2006 W of Cahors (46) Posts 4,151 Re: Cost of insurance in France I've heard good words about MAAF so will likely put them high on my list for next time round.   My doctor said one drink per day, I can live with that !    Report

19/05/2008, 13:30 Clair Joined on 23/08/2004 ------- Forum Moderator ------- Lot (46) Posts 7,793 Re: Cost of insurance in France We started off with Pacifica (CA insurance) then when I had more time, I started looking around. MAAF came out slightly cheaper but mainly they were so approachable, there really was no debate. I have the house, gite, car and scooter insurances with them. Clair Real Virtual French Person    Report

19/05/2008, 13:42 cooperlola Joined on 05/05/2006 72 - Sarthe - home of les 24 heures du Mans Posts 6,438 Re: Cost of insurance in France We are also impressed with MAAF and in fact insured the second car with them this year, as you get a further discount as a result.  What's more, they did all the cancellation letters for the old policy on our belhalf - even coughing up for the registered post costs.  Very efficienct thus far but, of course, you never really know until you make a claim, do you? Healthcare Issues Site    Report

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France Forum » Living » Driving » Re: Cost of insurance in France

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