Suspension of cover for non-payment
A three-step mechanism suspending and then canceling cover for unpaid premium, without the insurer being able to act on the spot.
Article L. 113-3 of the French Insurance Code breaks non-payment of premium into three periods. Ten days after the due date, the insurer may send a formal demand by registered letter. Thirty days after that letter, cover is suspended. Ten days later still, the insurer may cancel. A loss on the twenty-ninth day after the demand is therefore covered in full, premium paid or not. Throughout those thirty days, cover runs as normal. Once suspended, it stops responding, but the contract lives on: the premium is still owed, and a late payment puts cover back in force at noon the following day. Until cancellation takes effect, the late payer can still make good on everything. The slowness is deliberate. It shields the forgetful or briefly strapped policyholder from losing cover they would only find out about at the worst moment, when a claim comes in, and it applies to compulsory insurance as well.
Article L. 113-3 of the French Insurance Code sets the three periods: ten days after the due date before the formal demand may be sent, thirty days from that demand before cover is suspended, then ten further days before cancellation becomes possible. A loss occurring on the twenty-ninth day after the demand is therefore fully covered, unpaid premium or not.
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