UK home insurance hassle for Briton living in France

A British woman from the Gard has described her post-Brexit difficulties with home insurance for a UK property as a French resident.

Judi Christie, 62, who has a second home in Scotland, said her UK insurance brokers, Towergate, had informed her they could no longer insure the property due to a change of the company underwriting the policy (from RSA to Canopius).

“I called them and they told me it was a new law, held over from Brexit, that was being activated and they could no longer insure properties not held by British residents,” she said.

She said she had tried new brokers, but they also told her that many insurers now have issues with people resident overseas, even if they have British nationality.

Read more: How do drivers prove French vehicle is insured when driving in the EU?

Co-ownership

Getting a UK-based family member to be a co-owner had been suggested as one possibility, she said. French companies told her with “no eye on the [UK] property” it was not possible for them.

“Now I’m without insurance since the end of May,” she said.

Towergate told us that in deciding to move to a new provider, they had sought a solution that suited the majority of clients. However, “each insurer has its own acceptance criteria and risk appetite, which can vary significantly,” a spokesperson said.

“While RSA was comfortable with the previous arrangement, Canopius has taken a more cautious stance. This is likely due to several considerations, such as increased underwriting risk, regulatory and tax complexities, and legal jurisdiction challenges, which can make claims handling more complicated.”

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Financial passporting

When the UK left the EU it also left its ‘financial passporting’ rules, which make it simple for firms in one state to do business in another without additional authorisations. We have not, however, identified a specific law that has changed more recently.

Ms Christie, who offers English language theatre workshops to French schools, reports she has now identified a possible replacement from a firm called Plum Underwriting.

Plum told The Connexion the situation “should be fine” if the owner can designate someone in the UK who can check on the property at least once every 30 days while it is unoccupied. “The owner living in France, as such, isn’t an issue for us,” a spokesman said.

Have you experienced similar issues and found solutions? Let us know at feedback@connexionfrance.com