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Assurance villégiature ? (insurance cover)

Dave123

10+ Posts
We wish to rent a property in France this summer and the contract refers to a requirement for 'votre assurance villégiature' - this appears to be some form of civil responsibility cover, apparently common in French home insurance policies (to cover policy holders whilst on holiday).

I've never met the term before and neither has our travel insurers (Staysure).

Has anyone enountered this requirement and know what the remedy might be ? TIA

Update:

Gite fine print says we have to provide insurance? Where in the world do you buy this?? 05/22/19

With link to:

Short stay insurance (Assurance court séjour)

Update #2: 'garantie villégiature' seems to be another expression (also 'resort insurance').

And this is another broker:

Cabinet ALBINET - Cancellation travel insurance tenants liability (ADAR)

This thread refers to articles 1733 and 1734 in French Civil Code:

Newbie Seeking Advice about Paris Renal Apt Scams ca 2011

FYI: we have rented French property approximately 13 times in the past 25 years, and I can trace only 3 occasions where the issue of travel insurance has been raised by the property owner (La Rochelle, Collioure & Pornic).
 
Last edited:
I’ve never heard of this. Is your conclusion that they just mean you should get travel insurance in case you have to cancel because they won’t refund anything?
 
Our normal travel insurance cover is primarily for medical/illness & loss of baggage & and disruption. But there is no cover for (major) accidental damage to the rented property - nor does it appear to be covered by our house insurance. Thus the additional policy that we have purchased, says:

Civil liability of the occupant for material damage, the Insurer covers:

a) Rental liability

Subsequent to a fire, explosion, water damage, freezing taking rise in the premises, the monetary consequences of the liability of the tenants or occupants in terms of Articles 1732 to 1735 and 1302 of the Civil Code for real estate and property damage to the property of the owner of the rental housing (except rented boats), the fees for appraisers and the travel or replacement expenses as well as the rehousing costs made indispensable subsequent to a covered claim. The insurer also covers the monetary consequences, loss of rents or right to benefit incurred by the owner. Damage caused to other boats is excluded.
This cover is for 1500000,00 € euros all damages included...

Which has been deemed acceptable by the property owner (i.e., they haven't raised any objection).
 
Typical French home insurance covers you for damage you inflict on the tenants, but not damage the tenants cause to your property. This is why they ask you for your rental insurance which shows that you are covered if you burn their house down. If you have French rental insurance on a property in France, that will typically cover you, but if you do not have a French property insurance policy, you will need to get coverage. If you're renting through one of the big rental sites like Homeaway or Booking.com, they offer optional insurance coverage with you can take with your reservations.
 
Many thanks - some interesting points. After exploring the larger rental operators further, I'm not convinced that associated guests' insurance will cover (extensive) third-party property damage. The onus seems to rest with the hosts.

HomeAway - (Guests) Damage Protection

HomeAway - (Hosts) Liability Insurance

Airbnb - Host Insurance

Airbnb - Host Guarantee Terms and Conditions
 
I did some quick searches for long-term rentals.

For instance I find this one in Nice:


They have a 2000 Euro Security Deposit which they want wired by bank transfer ahead of time.

I wonder how typically these are returned at the end of the rental?

Would a landlord collect a big Security Deposit as well as require some kind of rental insurance?

The minimum term for this rental is 6 months. So that means getting a long-stay visa of some kind for Americans.

Has anyone gone through such a process? Heard it's a lot of paperwork and interviews and such.

OK, I know I don't have a right to stay longer than 90 days in a Schengen country but it seems like they want to discourage you from doing more than tourist visits.

I understand that they have to make sure you don't try to work or do other things which may circumvent their normal immigration process.

I'm not interested in moving there permanently, just living there for about a year.
 

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