UK home insurance difficulties for Briton living in France

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

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 owned by UK residents,” she said.

She said she had tried new brokers, but they also told her that many insurers now have issues with those 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 having “no eye on the [UK] property” it was not possible for them to insure the property.

“I have been 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 lost ‘financial passporting’ rules which make it simple for companies in one country to do business in another without the requirement for significant additional authorisations.

Ms Christie, who provides English language theatre workshops to French schools, says she has now identified a possible replacement insurance company.

The firm, Plum Underwriting, 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 whilst it is unoccupied. 

“The owner living in France is not an issue for us,” a spokesman said.

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