If you are the tenant of a furnished or unfurnished apartment or the owner of a condominium, you have a legal obligation to take out home insurance.
This coverage runs throughout the period that you are responsible for the property. However, it happens that during this time your situation changes or that you have found a better insurance offer elsewhere. In this case, you can consider a change of insurer by respecting certain rules and procedures.
There are three ways to change home insurance without incurring heavy penalties. The first is to invoke the Châtel law. In recent years, the regulations around the termination of insurance contracts have undergone profound changes, particularly with a view to better securing consumers and tightening the duties of insurance companies. The Châtel law, which came into force from 2008, required insurers to send a notice of expiry to their customers in order to inform them of the anniversary date of their contract. The objective is to avoid abuses linked to tacit renewal and to give policyholders a chance to benefit from clearer and more transparent information on their rights in terms of termination. Thus, if the company has not sent you this expiry notice at least 15 days before the termination deadline, you can decide to terminate the contract free of charge.
In this same logic of consumer security, the Hamon law was applied from January 1, 2015. Thanks to it, you are free to terminate your contract once the date of the first anniversary of subscription has passed. This termination can be done without penalty fees or notice. Finally, you can also decide to change insurance company following a change in your personal or professional life such as a move or work in your house, a marriage or a divorce, a retirement or the loss of a job. . Because of these changes, the insurer may apply an increase in the cost of contributions due to the increase in risk. You have the right to refuse this increase and to terminate your contract.
To change insurance without notice or penalties, it is advisable to appeal to the Hamon law. You just have to wait until the end of the first year of subscription to start this process. To do this, you must send your request to your insurance company by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt. If you have already paid your premiums in advance, the company has a duty to reimburse you for the amounts that have not been used. In principle, the termination is effective one month after receipt of your letter of termination. Please note, if you are a condominium owner or tenant, you are required to have home insurance. You must then take care to find a new contract before initiating the termination procedures with the old company. Normally, it is possible to entrust this process to the new company you have chosen. To do this, you will need to provide them with all the information relating to your previous contract.
Before subscribing to a new insurance contract, you must not rush. There are several elements to take into account that will define the quality of your coverage. The first thing is to check the included warranties and exclusions. Take care to always select the guarantees according to your needs and your profile.
Limits of indemnity are also to be scrutinized, as they contribute to restricting the scope of your insurance. They correspond to the maximum amount compensated by the insurance company in the event of damage.
You must also focus on the deductibles which represent the amounts payable by you after a claim.
The price is obviously a major criterion for choosing your home insurance. However, do not always be tempted to subscribe to an offer that is too attractive, as this may hide very light cover.
