The French no-claims bonus (bonus-malus) explained

Every French motor quote hangs on one number: the CRM, coefficient de réduction-majoration, universally called the bonus-malus. Unlike the no-claims discounts you may know from the UK, Ireland or the Netherlands, it is not a commercial gesture that each insurer designs as it pleases: it is a regulated formula, identical at every French insurer, written into the Code des assurances. Understanding it takes five minutes and saves years of premium.

How the coefficient moves

You start at 1.00. Your premium is the insurer’s base rate multiplied by that coefficient. Then, each year:

A claim-free year multiplies the coefficient by 0.95 — a 5% reduction, compounding. After thirteen consecutive clean years you reach the floor of 0.50, meaning half the base premium, and it cannot go lower. An at-fault claim multiplies it by 1.25; a claim where fault is shared multiplies it by 1.125. Several claims in one year compound. The ceiling is 3.50.

Two mitigating rules matter. First, the descente rapide: after two consecutive years without an at-fault claim, a coefficient above 1.00 drops straight back to 1.00, however bad the malus was. Second, a driver who has held 0.50 for at least three years keeps 0.50 after a first at-fault claim — the equivalent of protected no-claims, granted automatically rather than sold as an option. And some events never affect the CRM at all: theft, fire, glass breakage, force majeure, and a parked car hit by an unidentified third party.

It follows the driver, not the car

This is the point that surprises most newcomers. The CRM belongs to the named driver and travels with them from car to car and from insurer to insurer. The document that carries it is the relevé d’information, a statement of your insurance history that your insurer must issue on request, and automatically when the contract ends. Ask for it before you shop around; no French insurer will quote seriously without it. Our French-language guides on the bonus-malus and the relevé d’information go into the detail.

A corollary worth knowing: driving as a declared conducteur secondaire on a parent’s or partner’s policy builds nothing of your own in the strict CRM sense, but it does build a documented history that insurers price on — which is why it remains the standard way for young drivers in France to soften the novice surcharge described in our young driver guide.

Will a foreign no-claims bonus be recognised?

Honest answer: not automatically, and never as a legal CRM. The statutory coefficient is a French mechanism fed by French contracts, so an arrival from abroad is entered at 1.00 by default. What varies is what insurers do commercially on top of that. Many will apply a discount, sometimes a substantial one, on presentation of a no-claims letter from your previous insurer stating the number of consecutive claim-free years — ideally on company letterhead, with a French translation if it is not in English. Some insurers, particularly those used to international customers and expatriate brokers, treat several foreign claim-free years as equivalent to a comparable French bonus; others ignore the document entirely. This is precisely the kind of gap where comparing four or five quotes changes the price more than any other single action.

Two practical tips. Request the no-claims letter before you cancel your old policy — insurers abroad are much slower once you are no longer a customer. And if you drive a foreign-plated car during your first months in France, read our guide on foreign-registered vehicles first: the registration question has to be settled before the bonus question means anything.

Returning French residents

A French national coming home after years abroad faces the mirror image of the same problem: the CRM earned before departure lapses if the gap in French cover is long, and the relevé d’information older than a few years loses its force. Insurers differ widely on how far back they will look. The dedicated French page on returning from expatriation sets out what to keep and what to ask for.

Frequently asked questions

How much does one at-fault accident cost in France?

Mechanically, +25% on the coefficient — a driver at 0.60 moves to 0.75, so a €600 premium becomes €750 at renewal, before any commercial repricing. The effect then unwinds at 5% a year, so a single at-fault claim typically costs more over the following five years than the repair itself.

Can I buy no-claims bonus protection?

Not as a general option: the CRM is regulated and cannot be sold away. The one built-in protection is the rule above — three years at 0.50 shields you from the first at-fault claim. Beyond that, some insurers market « bonus à vie » or first-claim-forgiveness products, which are commercial promises inside their own tariff, not modifications of the legal coefficient.

Does a claim where I was not at fault affect my bonus?

No, provided the other party is identified and liable. A hit-and-run on a parked car, theft, fire and glass breakage are also neutral. Shared liability, typically after an uncontested constat amiable at a junction, costs half a penalty (×1.125).

How do I get my relevé d’information?

Ask your insurer in writing; it must be provided, in practice within fifteen days, and automatically when a contract ends. It lists the last five years of contracts, drivers and claims with their liability status, and your current coefficient. Keep every one you receive — it is the only portable proof of your French driving history, and it is what our car insurance guide and buying a car in France both assume you have to hand.

More expat guides: Student insurance in France: the three certificates you will be asked for · Cancelling an insurance policy in France · Breakdown cover in France: it is already in your car policy · Insurance in France: the expat’s map · all guides.