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Cancelling insurance in France: renewal date, loi Hamon, mutuelle
Car, home, top-up health insurance, mortgage insurance: when you can cancel, when it takes effect, and how to send the request.
People often keep an insurance policy out of habit when another one would be cheaper. Cancelling in France is much simpler than it used to be: for most contracts, you can leave at any time after one year. What changes from one case to another is who sends the request and when it takes effect.
The rules, contract by contract
| Contract | When to cancel | Who handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Car, motorbike | At the renewal date, or at any time after one year (loi Hamon) | The new insurer, after one year: this insurance is compulsory |
| Home insurance, tenant | At the renewal date, or at any time after one year | The new insurer, after one year: it is compulsory too |
| Home insurance, owner | At the renewal date, or at any time after one year | You |
| Mutuelle (top-up health insurance) | At the renewal date, or at any time after one year | You, or the new provider on your behalf |
| Mortgage insurance | At any time (loi Lemoine) | You, with an equivalent offer accepted by the bank |
| Phone or appliance cover | At the renewal date, or at any time after one year | You |
Moving house, getting married, changing jobs or retiring also let you cancel mid-year, within three months of the event, if the risk changes (article L113-16 of the French Insurance Code, Code des assurances).
The loi Hamon: after one year, at any time
For car, motorbike and home insurance, and for insurance sold with a product (phone, household appliance), you can cancel with no fee and no reason once the contract is one year old (article L113-15-2 of the Insurance Code, known as the loi Hamon). Cancellation takes effect one month after the insurer receives the request, and it refunds the part of the premium covering the period after that date.
For car insurance and a tenant's home insurance, you must not be uninsured for a single day: so the new insurer sends the cancellation to the old one and makes sure the two contracts follow on. You only need to sign the new contract and tell it you want to cancel the old one.
Top-up health insurance has followed the same rule since 1 December 2020: cancel at any time after one year, effective one month later.
At the renewal date, and the loi Chatel
In the first year, or for contracts the loi Hamon doesn't cover, you cancel at the annual renewal date (échéance), respecting the contract's préavis (notice period), often two months (article L113-12).
The insurer must remind you of that deadline with the renewal notice (avis d'échéance). If it sends it less than fifteen days before the end of the notice period, or after, you have twenty days from when it was sent to cancel. If it doesn't send it at all, you can cancel at any time from the renewal (article L113-15-1, the loi Chatel rule for insurance).
Mortgage insurance
Since the 2022 loi Lemoine, mortgage insurance can be switched at any time, at no cost. The condition: the new insurance must offer cover equivalent to what the bank requires. The bank has ten working days to accept or refuse, and must give reasons for a refusal. In practice, the new insurer prepares the file, and you send the substitution request to the bank.
How to send the request
A registered letter is no longer required. The law accepts a letter or any other durable medium, such as an email, and the insurer must allow online cancellation when the contract was taken out online (article L113-14). For a cancellation at the renewal date, when the notice period counts to the day, a lettre recommandée avec avis de réception (registered letter with proof of receipt) is still the safest proof of the date of receipt.
The letter, in French, only takes a few lines:
- Your name, address, and policy number.
- The cancellation request and its legal basis: renewal date, loi Hamon, change in circumstances.
- For the loi Hamon, a statement that the contract is more than one year old.
- A request to refund the unused premium, if you paid in advance.
- The date and your signature.
The free cancellation letter tool has one template for the renewal date and one for the loi Hamon. The letter is written live, and you can print it or send it by registered mail with proof of receipt without going to the post office.
With an AI assistant
Give your contract or renewal notice to ChatGPT or Claude: it finds the anniversary date, the notice period, and the rule that applies. With Cachet connected, it writes the letter, shows you the preview and the price, then sends it by registered mail once you approve. Always check the policy number and the address of the cancellations department: the letter goes out in your name.
Frequently asked questions
Can you cancel car insurance in France before one year?
Only at the renewal date, or after a change in circumstances that alters the risk (moving, selling the vehicle, marriage…). After one year, the loi Hamon lets you leave at any time.
When does a loi Hamon cancellation take effect?
One month after the insurer receives the request. The insurer refunds the part of the premium covering the period after that date.
Do you need a registered letter to cancel insurance in France?
No. A plain letter, an email or an online account are enough under the law. A registered letter with proof of receipt is useful to prove the date of receipt when a deadline is at stake.
What if the insurer doesn't answer?
Follow up with proof of your request, then contact its complaints department (service réclamations). If nothing changes, you can refer the case to the insurance ombudsman (médiateur de l'assurance), free of charge, online.