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La Voie Bleue: European Cycle Route of the Year is in France
700km bike path linking Luxembourg and Lyon has been crowned winner of the 2026 title
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Before and after: Garonne river floods in south-west France
Satellite images show extent of flooding from back-to-back storms in February
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Home insurance increases expected in France after floods
Compensation costs for the recent storms and flooding across the west and south-west is estimated to be in the billions of euros
Mortgage insurance may be changed each year
After several hiccups, the law allowing householders to cancel their mortgage insurance and find a new insurer has finally been published.
It means from January 1 next year owners may be able to find a more competitive deal as many mortgage insurance contracts are signed with some haste to conclude a purchase and 85% of them are with the bank offering the mortgage.
The present Loi Hamon allowing the insurance to be cancelled in the first year still applies. A new policy must offer the same or better cover than the one being cancelled and the new law will apply to all policies in force and can be renegotiated each year.
Business analysts McKinsey says that from €600million to €1.4billion of mortgage insurance could be set to be re-negotiated. It said it had based its estimates on savings of between 15% and 35% for borrowers.
