Cancelling an insurance policy in France

Every French personal insurance contract renews itself automatically on its anniversary date — tacite reconduction. Nothing arrives to be signed, the direct debit simply continues, and a policy you stopped needing in March is still charging you the following March. Newcomers routinely discover this after paying two years of home insurance on a flat they left. The law has been steadily widening the exits since 2005; here is the state of play.

The one-year rule, which solves most cases

Once a personal contract has been running for twelve months, you may cancel it at any time, without giving a reason and without penalty, with one month's notice. This is the résiliation infra-annuelle introduced by the Hamon law of 2014 for motor, home and affinity insurance, and extended at the end of 2020 to health top-ups (complémentaire santé). Refunds of premium already paid for the unused period are due.

For the two insurances that are compulsory — motor liability, and home insurance for tenants — the law makes it even simpler: the new insurer handles the cancellation for you. You sign up with the new company, mandate it in the application, and it writes to the old one and manages the handover so that you are never uninsured for a day. You should not send anything yourself; doing both at once is how people end up with a gap in cover.

Before the first anniversary: the Chatel notice

In the first year, the exit is the anniversary date, with two months' notice in most contracts. The Chatel law protects you against missing it: the insurer must remind you of the deadline when it sends the renewal notice, and if that reminder arrives late — or never — you gain an extra window of twenty days from the date the notice was posted to cancel. Keep the envelope: the postmark is the proof. If no renewal notice was sent at all, you may cancel at any time from the renewal date onwards.

Life events

A change of situation that alters the risk opens its own exit, independently of the calendar: moving house, changing marital status, retiring or changing occupation, and selling the insured vehicle or property. You have three months from the event to write, and the cancellation takes effect one month later. Leaving France counts — this is the clause that matters for expatriates, and it applies to home cover and to a mutuelle. Death of the policyholder transfers the contract to the estate, which may then cancel it.

Cancelling online, in three clicks

Since June 2023, any insurer that lets you buy a policy online must also let you cancel it online, through a clearly identified termination function reachable in a few clicks from your account. It applies to contracts concluded electronically and to consumers who could subscribe that way, and it removes the old requirement to send a registered letter. In practice a written trace is still worth having: use the online route, then download the confirmation. If the function is nowhere to be found on the insurer's site, that in itself is a breach worth mentioning in a complaint.

The two exceptions worth knowing

Mortgage insurance follows a far more generous rule: since the Lemoine law of 2022 it can be switched at any time from day one, with no anniversary and no fee, provided the replacement policy is equivalent in cover and the bank approves it within ten working days. It is the single most profitable cancellation available in France — see our mortgage insurance guide.

The insurer can cancel too. Most French contracts allow the company to terminate at the anniversary with two months' notice, and motor policies additionally allow it after a claim. Being cancelled by your insurer is not neutral: it is recorded and it makes the next policy dearer, particularly in motor, where a specialised market exists for cancelled drivers. Our French page on insurance after cancellation covers that situation.

Practical sequence

Check the contract's start date and anniversary on your conditions particulières. Decide which route applies: after twelve months, the at-will route; before, the anniversary or a life event. For motor and tenant home cover, choose the new insurer first and let it do the paperwork. For everything else, cancel online where possible, otherwise by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt, quoting the policy number and the legal basis. Then check that the direct debit actually stops, and — in motor — ask for your relevé d'information, the claims statement described in our no-claims bonus guide, because no French insurer will quote for you without it.

Frequently asked questions

Can I cancel a French insurance policy at any time?

After the first twelve months, yes, for motor, home, affinity and health top-up policies, with one month's notice and a refund of the unused premium. In the first year you need either the anniversary date, a Chatel irregularity, or a qualifying life event. Mortgage insurance is the exception and can be changed from day one.

Do I still have to send a registered letter?

Not necessarily. Registered post remains the safest evidence and is still required by some contracts, but cancellation is also valid by any durable medium, and insurers selling online must offer an online termination path. Whatever the channel, keep a dated proof.

What happens if I stop the direct debit instead of cancelling?

The worst option. Non-payment does not terminate the contract: after a formal notice the cover is suspended, the premium remains owed, and the insurer eventually cancels for non-payment — a record that follows you and makes the next policy more expensive. Cancel properly, then stop the payment.

I am leaving France for good. What do I do?

Departure abroad is a change of situation: write within three months of the move, attaching proof (new lease, employer letter, deregistration), and cover ends one month later with a pro-rata refund. Sell or de-register the car before cancelling its policy — as long as a vehicle is registered in France it must remain insured, even if it never moves.

More expat guides: Breakdown cover in France: it is already in your car policy · Insurance in France: the expat’s map · Car insurance in France: the expat mechanics · Home insurance in France: tenant duty, owner wisdom · all guides.