Sunday 27 March 2011

Blo*dy Car Insurance.

Here in France we are obliged to display two small certificates in the front windscreen of our cars. Firstly there is proof of car road-worthiness; some bloke in blue overalls kicks the tyres for a while, then charges us a fortune. This biannual check is represented by a small blue dated sticker which lasts for 2 years.

The second is the above; a 5cm by 5cm paper insurance certificate, which needs to be torn off, then placed comfortably into a transparent plastic sleeve. In France we pay NO road tax.

I've just received my bill for this year's insurance. Both Lady Magnon and myself are insured to drive the family Compact Royce, and for that pleasure my annual charge is an outrageous €182 (£160 or $256).

Considering that Lady M and myself are both extremely cautious drivers, I consider this no more than THEFT.

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12 comments:

  1. You would feel robbed and raped here in the states. In North Carolina, the average is $1200 for ONE car. We have two. In high risk areas such as South Florida, its double ($2400).

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  2. It seems to be the case here that a car is insured rather than a person. Pretty handy, except for the fact that there are far too many 17 year olds behind the wheels of very powerful vehicles. This is less good.

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  3. The insurance on our P T Cruiser costs about what the dang thing is worth now. We are considering dropping collision and comprehensive as any small amount of damage would pretty much total the vehicle. I worked as a personal lines insurance underwriter for about 20 years and I hate the stuff. Cro hates snow and I hate insurance.

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  4. Methinks you moan too much. Here, I pay about £220 for Volvo insurance, plus another £200 road tax. MOTs start at £60, before the bloke has even begun kicking the tyres, and petrol is £1.40 a litre and rising. And it's going to get worse in the next few months/years.

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  5. P.S. The average insurance for a new, 17 year old driver is about £1500 per year right now, but insurance for women is about to rise to a level the same as men's. For some reason, the insurance companies have mistakenly credited women as being safer drivers than men for about 50 years.

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  6. It feels like highway robbery here too for insurance and taxes...not sure how it would compare to yours but I think you have the bargain! It's always good to have the car in good working condition though...interesting you have to have that exam and stickered.

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  7. I always feel a little stingy with these extra car fees because we all pay so much in the original car taxes, and insurance, etc, etc, it doesn't seem fair. I'm reading exorbitant prices here, my goodness. Maybe we should all get bicycles. We could all sing the Queen song while riding around, "I want to ride my bicycle . . ."

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  8. Hi Cro it is expensive here also looks like you do not have it so bad afterall,looks like you should have paid up quietly lol seriously though we would not mind so much if they spent the money on the roads as they should especially in the country where we are.

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  9. Don't even get me started on insurance!

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  10. Sacre Bleu! I think perhaps a move to France is warranted based on the cheap rate of insurance alone. Of course, there are many other reasons I'd love to make my home in France. Particularly the southern part. :)

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  11. I only use my car once or twice a week and it annoys me that I pay the same in road tax as someone who covers many thousands of miles every year. I live in hope that one day road tax will be abandoned and an extra tax put on to fuel - then we would pay road tax in proportion to our road usage.

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