Chatel law (notice of automatic renewal)
A 2005 law requiring the insurer to remind the individual, before renewal, of the right not to renew the contract, and allowing cancellation at any time if the reminder is missing or late.
The January 28, 2005 law on consumer confidence and protection, known as the Chatel law, introduced in article L. 113-15-1 of the French Insurance Code a duty to inform about automatic renewal. For contracts taken out by individuals outside their business and renewed automatically, the insurer must state, with the renewal notice, the deadline by which the insured may refuse renewal. If the notice is sent less than fifteen days before the end of the notice period, or afterward, the insured has an extra twenty days to cancel. If it is not sent at all, the insured may cancel at any time from the renewal date, without penalty. The law preceded the 2014 law that removed the annual commitment for the main personal lines; it remains relevant for contracts not covered by termination at any time. For insurers, it turned the renewal notice from a mere premium call into a legal document whose sending date must be provable.
Textbook case: a policy covering a specific item, not subject to termination at any time, renews on March 1 with two months' notice. The insurer sends the renewal notice on December 20, less than fifteen days before the notice deadline of January 1: the insured has twenty extra days to cancel.
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