Got a French bank acct and you know your counselor? Might be the easiest way to first get established. Most banks do auto insurance too.

 

Generali Cognac - might not be the cheapest but accepted my U.K. license and would have taken my California one as well I think. They were easy to deal with and good at explaining the ins and outs of the French system. They also accepted a letter from my State Farm agent saying I had been with them for several years with a clean record and gave me a full No Claims Discount of 50%. I did not live in Cognac at the time. You could email them - they gave me an indicative quote as well when I was looking for a car but wasn’t completely sure if the model : cognac@agence.generali.fr. Hope the email is OK with the admins - not sure if the fine line for advertising although no benefit to me.

 

No problem, LL. You've been hanging around here in the forum long enough and have contributed plenty of good information on a variety of subjects. That's what makes the difference - since we "know" you, it's not considered advertising, but rather helping out a fellow expat based on your personal experience.

The problematic referrals to specific companies or businesses are those being touted by someone who just joined the forum and the "referral" is one of their first posts.

 

I would second Generali too

 

Another vote for Générali.

 

many people suggest direct assurance as it is online and cheap... They claim they are the axa online sibling so service should be good...
you can do some comparison using lelynx.fr

 

I have AXA through an English-speaking broker (found on an expat site). They accepted my full history of driving licenses from US (multiple states). Very good experience with a claim.

 

I wouldn't waste time with that comparison site, as it's really not geared for U.S. drivers. I've been driving for over 25 years and their quote system is treating me like a new driver and quoting me at well over 2,000 euros per year. I've emailed Generali and hope a human being can be of more assistance.

 

It's going to come down to what you can prove of your US claims experience and what the prospective insurance company chooses to do with it. I got quotes for around $500 for full coverage on a pretty old Peugeot 207. When I chose GMF and sat down with an agent with my 10 years of records , I got it down to $300. And they were having a "sale" so it was $200/yr. What US insurance company has a "sale"?

 

Havent read all the recs above...but I had so much trouble finding an insurance for my car - until I found MAIF - they are some kind of a society based ins I think - which made them not at all mercenary (my impression) - they were lovely and found ways to work with my very little French, and also when my car broke down helped deal with it so kindly.

Good things need to be spoken about more.

 

MAIF has a reputation for being easy to deal with - for French folks as well as for Americans! <BG> They started out as "Mutuelle assurance des instituteurs de France,"- i.e. a mutual insurance company for teachers. And they bill themselves as a "militant" insurance company (i.e. for the rights of their customers). So they're definitely a good option to look into.

Part of the equation for getting credit for your US (or other foreign) driving record is what sort of documents are available from you state (where you had your license) and/or your prior insurance companies in the US. I know I had big issues in Germany where they wanted my "driving record" from the state of California (where I had moved from) and what I got was basically a blank sheet of paper - "proving" that I had no recorded violations.

 

lol I had the same blank page which didn't fly at all - so had to pay full with out any - gosh am forgetting that word now...the percentage they knock off...

 

Bonus-malus? For me, such an odd word hard to forget...

 

Don't forget, too, that French car insurance focuses more on potential liabilities to others in the case of an accident and less on damage to your own vehicle (though the vehicle does factor into the cost of the policy). The bonus-malus kicks in after a couple of years (I think it is) of no claims and/or no accidents. And once you have it, you often get 1 or 2 claims a year without any adjustment to your percentage. I lucked out in that my French husband has a long-standing 50% reduction and as a member of his household, I was granted the same privilege.

There is also usually a "depannage" (repair) service that is part of the auto insurance. (Though some folks have that through the dealer they bought the car from - at least for the first year or two.)