UKC

Right, I'm currently in a bit of a quandry! A couple of months ago, I booked an Airbnb in France for a trip next week. Yesterday I got a message from the owner asking for an "attestation d'assurance villégiature". Went away, Google translate, she seems to be after something to prove that we've got personal liability in case we set fire to the place or something.

Okay, emailed her my BMC insurance documents which include a clause on personal liability. Up to £2,000,000 personal liability for damage to property, including holiday rentals. Job done.

Response: that's not good enough. "The bank requires a French holiday insurance certificate which mentions that the accommodation located at [location] will be well insured from 16 to 23 September 2017 for a vacation rental."

Eh? Is this a thing? What am I supposed to do? I've booked a few places in France before, including Airbnbs, and never heard of anything like this...

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Sounds like bollocks to me. Have you paid? Have you got time to book elsewhere?

W

In reply to Bogwalloper:

Update: my girlfriend is better on Airbnb Ts&Cs than me and points out that they provide insurance as part of the service. She's also got better French than me, so she's pointed this out to the owner (with a link to the page on their French site). The owner seems to be new to Airbnb and might just not have noticed this - hopefully she'll be okay with it, otherwise it might be last-minute booking time!

In reply to Ramblin dave:

The insurance system in France is different from the UK. There is a legal requirement to have adequate insurance cover whilst renting a holiday property it is a statutory requirement in French law. Sounds like your host is taking a slightly different more literal approach but I would have thought the BMC insurance covering the rental property would be sufficient

Have a look at this link there are some examples:
http://www.vendee-gites.com/Insurance.htm

In reply to Ramblin dave:

That's what I thought. We've rented quite a few properties in France on Airbnb and never ever been asked for insurance.

W

In reply to Bogwalloper:

Update - nope, that doesn't cover it. Still need (apparently) proof that we have cover for that specific property, written in French.

Going by starbug's link, it sounds like she, or her bank / insurer, is being reasonable (if pedantic) in wanting to see proof of liability cover, but not in insisting that it be in French and specific to that property rather than just being proof of personal liability including damage to rented properties for the period covering the stay.

In reply to Ramblin dave:

It looks like an "attestation etc" is provided on the back of insurance for a French home, so I wouldn't have thought it available to UK residents anyway?

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Have you contacted airbnb? The additional charges you pay are for access to their helpline, pretty sure they'll have dealt with similar...

Worth a try at this stage

In reply to Ramblin dave:


Update on the update - it does cover it, we were just looking at the wrong bit. Phew!

In reply to Ramblin dave:

Panic over...

In reply to starbug:

Does it only apply to whole properties and is it a new requirement? We stayed in a few Chambres D'hotes last summer and were never asked. Found them through Tripadvisor, but I'm sure some were booked directly.

In reply to Toerag:

I think only whole properties.

At the risk of national stereotyping, I also suspect that it's one of those French "legal requirements" that people have to be fairly green to actually bother paying much attention to.