General car insurance, the complete guide: why, how, for whom, guarantees

Picture: Illustration genaral car insurance

Insuring your car is mandatory. Beyond the legal obligation, insurers offer optional guarantees to be taken out according to your specific needs. To be well insured, it is also necessary to comply with certain rules, at the time of signing the contract, during the contract and in terms of prevention.

Compulsory car insurance:

Compulsory car insurance is the civil liability guarantee. The only compulsory insurance in cars, the civil liability guarantee allows compensation for damage caused to third parties by the fault of the driver of the vehicle or one of its passengers:

Injury or death of a pedestrian, a passenger, or an occupant of another vehicle ; damage to other cars, two-wheelers.

This civil liability guarantee covers authorized or unauthorized drivers. However, after compensating the victims, the insurer may have recourse against unauthorized drivers.

Failure to comply with this insurance obligation constitutes an offence. A fine, but also a license suspension and impoundment of the vehicle can be applied.

In order to allow the law enforcement agencies to monitor compliance with this legal obligation, the insurance certificate (or sticker) must be affixed to the windshield of the vehicle. In addition, the insurance certificate or green card may also be subject to verification.

This insurance obligation applies even if the vehicle is not running, for example when it is stored in your garage.

Read Also: What discounts can I get on my car insurance?

Optional car insurance:

• The damage suffered by the car
• The accident damage guarantee

It covers all material damage suffered by the vehicle, regardless of the type of accident or the fault committed by its driver.

• The collision damage guarantee

It only plays in the event of a collision with a pedestrian, another vehicle or an animal whose owner is identified.

Most contracts exclude from the benefit of the damage guarantee all accidents and collision damage drivers who have used drugs or checked with a blood alcohol level exceeding the authorized limits.

The theft and fire guarantees of the vehicle

They allow you to receive compensation equal to the value of the vehicle on the day of the fire or theft, or to a value specified in the insurance contract.

In principle, the fire guarantee also includes compensation for the consequences of an explosion, the fall of lightning or spontaneous combustion.

The insurance contract defines the conditions for the application of the flight guarantee as well as the terms of compensation. 

The insurer may require measures to prevent theft (installation of an alarm, installation of a circuit breaker prohibiting starting, engraving on all windows of the registration or serial number, accompanied by an inscription of the vehicle on a file accessible to the police, delivery of the vehicle at night in a locked garage).

In case of theft, the compensation is paid after the period indicated in the insurance contract (usually thirty days). If the vehicle is found during this period, compensation for any damage caused by the thief is provided.

Vandalism can be covered in the appendix to the theft guarantee, within varying limits according to the contracts.

The ice breakage guarantee

It covers damage to the windshield and can also extend to side windows, sunroof windows, rear window, headlight optics and mirrors.

The most common options

Some non-standard accessories (phone, roof box ...) are not always supported. In order for them to benefit from any insurance guarantee, they must be declared to the insurer when the contract is taken out or when they are installed.

Some contracts compensate new cars at their purchase price for six months or more, others cover cars at their purchase price for one or two years after their acquisition, regardless of their seniority.

This warranty option, which provides for a minimum amount of compensation for a certain period of time, makes it possible to increase the situations in which the vehicle can be repaired.

• The contents of the vehicle (mainly clothing and personal effects) can also be guaranteed within certain limits and under certain conditions.
• The loan of a replacement vehicle is also possible under certain conditions.
• The guarantees necessarily attached to the optional damage guarantees

If the contract includes a vehicle damage guarantee (all accidents, collision damage, theft, fire ...), the vehicle is automatically covered in the event of a natural disaster, technological disaster, storm and attack.

If only the "glass breakage" guarantee is subscribed, the benefit of these mandatory guarantees will be limited to the only elements corresponding to the definition of glass breakage (most often windshields and sometimes side windows, sunroof windows, rear window, headlight optics and mirrors).

the natural disasters guarantee: if the vehicle is insured for damage caused by a natural disaster (flood, avalanche, earthquake ...), this guarantee is valid after publication in the Official Journal of the interministerial decree confirming the state of natural disaster.

A deductible of 380 euros is applicable;

the technological disasters guarantee: the technological disasters guarantee covers damage resulting from technological disasters that have been the subject of an order in the Official Journal. The damages are then settled without deductible;

the storm guarantee: the damage caused by the storm (effects of the wind) is compensated ; the attack and act of terrorism guarantee: the attack guarantee covers damage resulting from acts of terrorism and attacks committed on national territory.

The guarantees not attached to the optional damage guarantees the riots and popular movements guarantee: unlike the terrorist attack guarantee, it is not necessarily acquired. However, many contracts offer the possibility of guaranteeing vehicles for damage caused by a riot or a popular movement;

forces of nature guarantees: Car insurance contracts sometimes include a forces of nature guarantee, which plays in the event of natural events not officially declared natural disasters.

The driver's warranty

When the driver is injured in a traffic accident in which he is at fault or in which no one is responsible, the driver's guarantee allows him to be compensated.

For example, this guarantee covers, according to insurance contracts:

Medical, surgical, pharmaceutical, hospitalization and prosthetic expenses; the financial damage related to a work stoppage or permanent disability; the loss of the beneficiaries following the death.

Insurers offer two guarantee formulas:

fixed-rate type, with capital fixed by the contract in the event of permanent disability or death. Without any particular specification in the contract, the services are in addition to the compensation that a responsible third party may have to pay;

of the indemnity type, with compensation for the entire damage of the insured; there are, sometimes, guarantee ceilings and a deductible.

• The guarantees of services

• The guarantee of legal protection

• The legal protection guarantee can be offered either in the car insurance contract or in a stand-alone contract. Different levels of guarantee can be offered:

the guarantee criminal defense and recourse following an accident; the segmented legal protection guarantee, which covers a specific area of intervention such as automobile legal protection;

the general legal protection guarantee, which brings together several areas in such a way as to cover most of the disputes faced by the insured.

The assistance guarantee: for the vehicle and for the passengers

This guarantee allows you to be repaired and towed in the event of a breakdown or accident. Many insurance contracts also include the shipment of spare parts, accommodation costs for the duration of the repair or driving to the destination, vehicle recovery costs and the payment of a deposit abroad.

Assistance to passengers usually includes repatriation in the event of an accident or illness, reimbursement of medical expenses incurred abroad, repatriation of the body in the event of death.

It is worth checking whether there is a mileage allowance in the event of a breakdown and whether the assistance services apply in the foreign countries crossed.

The assistance company itself provides the service of these services in kind on a simple phone call after verifying the existence of the guarantee.

Car insurance: the other points to check

Being well insured is also…

... Driving with valid papers

Indeed, in the event of an accident, if the responsible driver is not of the required age or has the appropriate license, the insurer will be able to claim reimbursement of the sums paid to the victims. He may also refuse to take responsibility for the damage suffered by the vehicle and the driver.

... To answer as accurately as possible the questions asked by the insurer

The consequences of an omission or a false declaration are heavy in the event of an accident :

reduction of the indemnities due to the insured and reimbursement by the latter of part of the sums paid to the victims;

nullity of the contract in the event of proven bad faith of the insured. The insurer retains the contribution paid by the insured, compensates the victims and claims from the insured the sums paid to the victims..

... Check the insurance in case of borrowing or lending a vehicle

The insurance obligation falls on the one who drives the vehicle. If its owner is not the user and he does not have custody of it, his responsibility is not engaged in the event of a traffic accident.

On the other hand, the responsibility of the person who drives the vehicle after having borrowed it may be retained. In addition, some insurance contracts are accompanied by an exclusive driving clause that commits the insured to be the sole driver of the vehicle.

In this case, if the vehicle has been loaned and its driver has caused an accident, the deductible provided for in the insurance contract may be increased. Therefore, before lending or borrowing a vehicle, it is necessary to check that the insurance is in good standing.

... Do not drive after taking drugs or while intoxicated

When a driver who has taken drugs or is drunk causes an accident, his guarantee of liability plays with respect to others (including a passenger) but:

• he will not receive anything under the driver's warranty if he is injured;
• he will not be reimbursed for repairs to his vehicle;
• he will not be defended by his insurance company in repressive courts.

In addition, the insurer has the right to increase its contribution at the next annual deadline (within the limit of 150% if there are no other sanctioned offenses and 400% in case of multiple penalties: license suspension, conviction for hit-and-run ...) or to immediately terminate its contract if there is a conviction.

... Check the territorial limits of the contract before going abroad

The civil liability guarantee plays when the vehicle travels on the territory of the states listed on the green card. To drive on the territory of another state, the driver must apply for an extension of the warranty.

If it is impossible to insure in France for certain destinations, the driver can do so at the border of the country concerned. On the other hand, the coverage may be more reduced for optional guarantees.

... Find out about the insurance contract before committing

With his quote, the insurer provides a summary of the general conditions of the contract. It is important to read this information leaflet and the contract proposal carefully before signing.

Insurance by the kilometer

Some insurance companies offer car insurance contracts by the kilometer. In this case, the calculation of the contribution takes into account a limited annual mileage (as a rule, 9,000 Km, sometimes less).

These companies usually request that the vehicle be presented to an authorized center in order to read the car's meter.

Or they have their customers sign a declaration of honor attesting that they have not exceeded the mileage limit during the year. In the event of an excess, the insurer makes a readjustment of the contribution. (*)