Rental Insurance in France

I came across this link that explains the issue when I was asked to provide the insurance for a summer rental in Provence from an individual: http://www.theluberon.com/insurance. I was directed to ADAR Insurance by a friend from France: http://www.aduciel.fr/Particuliers/Vacances/adar-assurance-annulation.aspx?lang=en.

Being interested in this topic, I used the insurance website link and entered euro 1000 for a 10-day stay in May 2014 and received the response "Tarif non accepte" (sp?). Do you have any idea why this would be so?

The tarife thing is odd. I tried the site myself for a 10-day rental and got the same response but it works for every other amount of time that I tried.

We booked a month in October in Paris through HomeAway.com and were required by apt owner to also have the insurance. I purchased through HomeAway.com. Company is CSA Travel Insurance in San Diego, Ca. I was tearing my hair out trying to find where to purchase from!

I assume the landlord's own insurance doesn't cover because the rentals are illegal as are most short term rentals; I am very curious about whether any insurance a tourist might take out on an illegal rental would cover damages? Does anyone know anyone who has had such a policy pay out?

Our one month lease on a house in the South stated that we were responsible of damages and required us to get insurance. However, no proof of insurance was required. So we decided to self insure. Don't know what would have happened if the place had burned down but it didn't.

I don't think that the landlord's insurance does not cover the property because of the illegality of an apartment rental because even for legal rentals (such as out in the countryside where there are often no restrictions on short term rentals), the landlord's insurance would not provide coverage. The term for the type of insurance being requested is "assurance villégiature." If you are a French home owner, no problem, your home insurance covers you when you rent in France. But if not, you should get adequate personal liability insurance to rent a property. I would guess that most people do not get the insurance unless specifically asked by the landlord.

If I owned a property I were renting out legally, I would have insurance that covered it. Trying to get your money back from some foreigner after they burn it down is not going to be easy and for less total destruction, probably not cost effective. I know in the US that landlords have insurance that covers their own property; renters get insurance that covers their personal effects. I suspect that because most rentals in cities in Europe are illegal that insurance doesn't cover and thus wonder if it is possible that insurance obtained by a renter might be actually ineffective if something happened.

"I know in the US that landlords have insurance that covers their own property; renters get insurance that covers their personal effects."

Of course, that is correct but in France, for vacation rentals, what can be called holiday insurance i.e. for coverage for damage to a rental property caused by the vacationer is covered by the vacationer's homeowner's insurance regardless of the legality of the rental. Not a home owner, then one should get vacation insurance. The landlord could have all the insurance that he or she wants, but if the liability for the damage rests with the vacationer (e.g. causing a fire by leaving a stove on or a flood by leaving water running) the landlord's insurance will not cover the costs. A landlord may include the price of the insurance in the cost of the rental and get it on behalf of the tenant. It's a subtle difference but it is a difference because if the landlord of vacation property does not make sure that this holiday insurance is in place and a problem arises, his or her regular property owner's insurance will not cover damage that was caused by the acts of the tenants. Of course, if I ran an insurance company and a policy holder in an "illegal" rental caused damage, I would not pay arguing that the illegality of the rental voided the insurance, but I am sure that the vacationer would counter argue that the insurer knew all about the illegality of the rental at the time of selling the insurance and the courts would have to sort it out and I think that the vacationer would win the argument if it made it to court.