French second-home insurance: cover, contents and a practical inventory

For a French second home, the insurance proposal should reflect the building, its contents, the periods when nobody is there and any use by guests or tenants. A Paris apartment with valuable art, a coastal villa with outbuildings and a chalet left empty between visits each require a precise description. An attractive premium is useful only when the insured property and conditions match how the home will be used.

Home insurance, or assurance habitation, covers the property, possessions and liabilities described in the contract. Borrower insurance, or assurance emprunteur, covers all or part of mortgage payments or outstanding debt after specified insured events affecting the borrower. One policy does not perform the other's role.

Where a lender requires borrower insurance, obtain its coverage criteria early and check the proposed policy against them. Overseas residence, occupation, coverage shares, age limits and medical formalities may matter. Equivalent cover from another insurer can be considered under the applicable rules. Keep that work alongside the mortgage application while separately arranging suitable property cover.

An owner of a property in a copropriété must carry civil-liability insurance. Service Public distinguishes this from a home outside co-ownership, where an owner-occupier is not generally required by law to buy home insurance. The owner can nevertheless remain liable for damage caused to others. Legal minimum cover and the protection appropriate for a valuable residence are different questions.

For an apartment, obtain details of the building's policy from the syndic, the co-ownership manager. Ask which common and private elements are insured, what excesses apply and where your own contents, improvements and liabilities sit. Do not infer the extent of personal cover from the fact that the building is insured.

If the purchase is financed, ask the bank what property-insurance evidence and start date it requires. Confirm the insured owner or entity, address and relevant lender interest with the insurer. Coordinate the effective cover at completion with the notaire; assumptions about the seller's existing policy should be resolved before ownership changes.

Prepare a short property description with floor area, construction, dependencies, pools, gardens and significant fitted installations. Explain whether it is used only by your household, lent to friends, occupied by staff or let to paying guests. Record the expected time empty, the longest absence and who can attend locally. An insurer's definition of occupation should be checked against these facts.

Distinguish the property's purchase price from the basis on which rebuilding or repair would be insured. A prime location contributes to market value; restoring a specialist roof, stonework or fitted interior raises a different valuation question. Ask how the contract treats those features, professional fees, debris removal and compliance work after a loss. Obtain specialist valuation input where requested.

List contents separately, including furniture, electronics, wine, art, jewellery and collections. Identify items borrowed, owned by a company or regularly moved between countries. Ask which categories and locations are covered, including belongings in cellars or outbuildings. Do not assume your UK or US household policy extends to the French residence; ask the insurer to confirm the actual territorial and property cover in writing.

Create a room-by-room record before valuable contents arrive or as soon as the property is furnished. Photograph the overall room and identifiable details of important items. Keep invoices, ownership records, valuations and relevant restoration documents together. France Assureurs explains that the sum insured alone does not prove the existence or value of stolen belongings; photographs of jewellery also need supporting detail about quality and value.

Use the following fields as an inventory template. A spreadsheet with links to supporting files can be sufficient for preparation, provided the insurer accepts the evidence needed for particular items. Store a protected copy away from the property and arrange access for the person authorised to manage a claim.

An inventory supports the application and a possible claim. It does not add an item to the policy or change its limits unless the insurer confirms the relevant cover.

A total contents allowance can conceal a much lower limit for valuables or for a single undeclared item. Ask how the contract defines art, jewellery, collections and other valuable objects. Establish whether a schedule of individual items, a professional valuation or particular security arrangements are required.

Take a fictional painting with an evidenced value of €65,000. Assume an otherwise covered loss under a contract with €250,000 of total contents cover, a €25,000 valuables sublimit and a €10,000 limit for one item that has not been separately declared. Under these assumed nested limits, the maximum for that painting is €10,000 before any excess or other adjustment. The €250,000 headline figure does not resolve the €55,000 value above the item cap.

These are invented policy terms, not a product quotation or an estimate of an actual claim. Ask the insurer how declaration or specialist cover would change the terms for the particular object.

Read the clause d'inhabitation, or unoccupancy clause, for each relevant guarantee. Some policies limit theft cover after extended absence; the duration and the way days are counted vary. Establish whether the clause uses consecutive or cumulative days, what counts as occupation and what a caretaker visit does or does not change. A reference to 90 days in a general guide is not confirmation of your own cover.

Agree a written routine for closing the property, water and heating settings, alarm activation, inspections and emergency access. For a chalet, ask about frost precautions. For a coastal villa, discuss the property-specific requirements during storms and long absences. The routine should follow the insurer's instructions and the building's needs, with a named local person responsible.

Keep visit and maintenance records, and confirm who receives an alarm or leak alert while you are abroad. Connected sensors may help detect a problem, but they do not amend a contractual condition. If the required routine is impractical, address that with the insurer before choosing the policy.

Tell the insurer if you plan to let the residence, even for a limited period, or change from family use to paying guests. Confirm the people, activities and periods covered. The legal and contractual arrangements for a holiday rental differ from those for a long-term residential tenancy; Service Public describes several ways to allocate cover between owner and holiday guest. Existing co-owner liability obligations remain relevant.

Ask about damage caused by occupants, theft, liability to neighbours, loss of rent after an insured event and exclusions involving valuable contents. Check any platform protection against the owner's policy and rental contract. A description such as host protection does not establish that the building, collection or income loss is insured on the terms you need.

Give the manager clear instructions for access, incident reporting and evidence at arrival and departure. An inventory used for a rental handover may help record condition, but it does not replace an insurer's requirements for ownership and valuation. Keep the two records consistent when furnishings change.

Explain proposed works to the insurer before they start: their scope, duration, occupation arrangements and contractors. Ask who covers the existing building, works and materials, damage to neighbours and any period without normal security or weather protection. Retain contracts and relevant insurance certificates, checking that they describe the activities and dates concerned.

For construction, extension or structural renovation within the relevant rules, dommages-ouvrage insurance must be arranged before the site opens. It prefinances repair of defects covered by the builders' ten-year liability regime without first establishing responsibility. This is separate from ordinary home insurance and from a contractor's own cover. Have the project advisers establish the applicable arrangements for the actual works.

At handover, update the property's description, insured values and inventory. New fitted joinery, a pool, changed floor area or valuable furnishings can make the original proposal inaccurate. Coordinate completion records and any outstanding defects with the professionals handling the project.

Ask how the policy treats the site's actual exposures: water escape, flood, coastal events, storm, snow load or ground movement. For the French catastrophe naturelle regime, cover depends on insured property and the conditions of the official recognition, including location, event and period. A declaration does not automatically insure an omitted outbuilding or every indirect loss.

Keep the policy, emergency numbers, local keyholder and claim contact accessible from abroad. After an incident, protect people, make the property safe and take reasonable steps to prevent further damage. Photograph the loss, preserve relevant evidence and contact the insurer promptly. Seek its instructions before substantial repairs beyond necessary emergency measures; retain receipts for urgent work.

Claim deadlines depend on the event and applicable rules. For a recognised natural catastrophe in metropolitan France, Service Public states that notification should be made as soon as the event is known and no later than 30 days after publication of the recognition order. Do not wait for a completed inventory or repair quotation before making the initial notification. For theft, also contact the police and retain the complaint receipt.

When comparing policies, ask how damaged contents will be valued, including depreciation, replacement conditions, excesses and limits. Replacement-as-new wording can have conditions; an old invoice and a current specialist valuation serve different purposes. Establish who can provide access and communicate with the insurer's expert if you cannot travel.

Before completion, confirm the insured parties, property description, effective date, lender evidence, occupancy declaration and valuables schedule. Save the insurer's written confirmations with the policy. Identify unresolved questions explicitly, particularly if furniture arrives later or works begin immediately after the purchase.

Review those records annually and whenever the use, contents, security or building changes. Compare the policy with the home as it now exists and with the inventory, rather than simply renewing last year's totals. Record the next valuation review for significant collections and the contact who will manage the residence during absences.

BlueVectis helps international owners understand insurance requirements around a French residence, including furnished homes, periods of vacancy, selective letting and acquisition works. For a financed purchase, this can be coordinated with the mortgage preparation so the bank, insurer and completion team work from the same property and occupancy information.