Are you covered by motor insurance while traveling abroad?

Territorial validity of insurance

Car liability insurance in France covers all countries of the European Union.

Such insurance shall also cover other countries for which the national offices of all countries of the European Union are individually responsible for settling claims arising in their territory.

For a list of non-EU countries that are covered by your vehicle insurance, you must ask your insurer to issue you an international car insurance card.

This document lists the countries in which your car insurance covers you.

If the name of a country is deleted from this list, it means that your assurance that your insurance does not work in that country.

If you still want to travel to a country where your insurance doesn't work, you need to take out local insurance.

Risks covered abroad

The risks covered abroad depend on the guarantees you have taken out.

If your vehicle is only guaranteed for the civil liability, you will only be covered for damages that your vehicle may cause to third parties.

If you have additional guarantees (for example in the formula "all risks"), their application may be limited depending on the country visited.

It is therefore necessary to check with your insurer the guarantees that apply and those that are limited in your country of destination.

In particular, you must check whether, in the event of theft or accident of the vehicle, the insurance covers the following costs:

• Vehicle towing costs
• Costs of repatriation of passengers, or even of the vehicle
• Accommodation costs during repairs
• Payment of a driver to repatriate the vehicle and its occupants

Documents to prove that the vehicle is insured

If you are traveling in an EU country, you can prove that your vehicle is insured by presenting the document that the insurer gave you at the time of subscription, or the international insurance card.

The document that the insurer must provide you at the time of enrollment contains the following essential elements of the contract:

• Name and address of insurance company
• Name, forenames and address of the subscriber of the contract
• Insurance policy number
• Date of issue of the document
• Effective date of the guarantee
• Vehicle registration number
• Make and model of vehicle
• If the contract guarantee applies to both a motor vehicle and its trailers or semi-trailers, indication of the type of trailers or semi-trailers which may be used with the vehicle
• If necessary, mention of the fact that the vehicle is used in the context of a particular public passenger transport activity for consideration

Documents to be provided in case of accident

In the event of an accident, you must produce proof of insurance.

To facilitate the declaration of an accident, you can use the European Accident Report, which is valid in the countries of the European Union.

You can get one or more copies from your insurer before the trip.

The amicable finding must be completed in the event of an accident in the most complete manner.

Each driver involved in the accident must have a completed copy.

This finding is standardized at European level and can be easily supplemented regardless of the language in which it is written.

Documents to prove that the vehicle is insured

The situation varies depending on whether or not the country of destination participates in the Green Card or International Motor Insurance Card system.

The Green Card system is an agreement signed by several countries on motor insurance to facilitate international traffic.

Documents to be provided in case of accident

In the event of an accident, you must produce proof of insurance.

To facilitate the declaration of the accident, you can use the European Accident Report, but the document will not have the same value as in France or in the European Union, where it is recognized by insurance companies.

You can get one or more copies from your insurer before the trip.